Accessing the control panel and configuring preferences

Here are the minimum steps needed to set up a working corporate communication system:

1. Select a machine (PC, physical or virtual server) with suitable hardware.

2. Install TrueConf Server.

3. Access the control panel. ◀️ You are here!

4. Register the server.

5. Configure HTTPS (it is used for many key features such as integration with the AI server, conference scheduling, etc.) and specify the external server address (the address of the guest page).

6. Configure access to the server for users within the corporate network and, if necessary, from an external network (outside the corporate network).

7. Create user accounts or integrate the server with a directory service via the LDAP/LDAPS protocol.

8. Install client applications for users and show them how to connect to your server (check the documentation for the desktop application).

How to access the control panel (admin area)

You won't be able to access the control panel if you install TrueConf Server on Windows Home (check system requirements)! You need versions of Windows that support user group management (Server / Pro / Enterprise). Additionally, regardless of the OS (Windows or Linux), the user account you are trying to authenticate with, must have a password.

If you have installed TrueConf Server on Windows:

1. Open your browser and go to the IP address of the machine where the server is installed.

2. If you are accessing the control panel for the first time from the same machine where TrueConf Server is installed, you should be automatically authenticated on the registration page:

   

3. If the registration page opens, you may activate the server.

4. If you access the control panel from another PC and subsequently open the server address from the same machine, a guest page will be displayed:

   

5. Press the Administrator login button and enter the OS user login and password used to install the server:

   

6. If you are unable to log in, make sure that the user on the Windows machine with the server is a member of the TrueConf Server Admin group:

On Linux OS, users are added to the tcadmins group manually during the installation process. These users will have access to the admin panel.

There is no "universal" default login; you need to know the login and password linked to the account on the OS where the server was installed. Any type of access to the TrueConf Server control panel requires authentication with the login information of a user who is included in one of these groups:

• TrueConf Server Admin on Windows (tcadmins on Linux operating systems) — for server administration;

• TrueConf Server Security Admin on Windows (tcsecadmins on Linux OS) is used for viewing reports and video conference recordings.

Important! There is no other way to add an account for administering TrueConf Server. Additionally, you cannot change another administrator's password or perform similar actions in the control panel; all access is managed through the OS user account.

By default TrueConf Server can be administered from any computer in the same local network where it was installed. In other words, by default access is limited to the following ranges of IP addresses: 10.*, 192.168.*, 172.16-172.31, 127.*.

Detailed access settings are discussed in the description of section Web → Security.

How to create a new account in different operating systems and add it to the desired group is detailed using the example of the TrueConf Server Security Admin administrator.

TrueConf Server there are no limits on the number of administrators of each type.

If an administrator wants to manage TrueConf Server from a remote computer, they need to make sure that the firewall allows incoming connections over the control panel access port (80 by default) and that this option has been enabled in the Security section of the control panel.

We explained how to manage TrueConf Server from a computer offline in the relevant knowledge base article.

After access configuration, we recommend setting up HTTPS as soon as possible because it will be needed for frequently used features: application scheduler, real-time meeting management, and access to users' personal area. When HTTPS is configured, the port 80 (or any other port used to access the control panel) will no longer be needed for the work of TrueConf Server and can be disabled on the firewall for enhanced security.

Adding Administrators

You can configure access rights for existing accounts or create new ones. Below, we will show how to create a user and immediately add this account to the appropriate group on Windows and Linux.

For Windows

To create a new local Windows account and add it to the TrueConf Server Admin group:

1. Go to the Local Users and Groups snap-in. To do this, press Win+R and run the lusrmgr.msc command in the window that appears.

2. Right-click on the Users list and select New User....

3. Fill in the required fields and configure the password change settings.

   

4. Go to the Users list.

5. To grant access to the server control panel, right-click the created account and go to Properties.

6. On the Member Of tab, click Add....

7. Specify TrueConf Server Admin as the name of the object to be selected and click OK.

Accounts imported from Active Directory/LDAP can also be added to the local group TrueConf Server Admin.

On Linux OS

The commands listed below need to be executed with superuser privileges or using sudo (e.g., sudo command). Please note that sudo may be unavailable by default in your operating system. You can check its availability using the sudo -V command.

For Debian

1. Run the following command:

sudo adduser --ingroup tcadmins [new_admin]

where [new_admin] is the username of the admin.

2. Enter your password in the corresponding field and confirm it.

3. Optionally, provide additional information for the admin (full name, phone number, etc.).

For CentOS

1. Run the following command:

sudo adduser -G tcadmins [new_admin]

where [new_admin] is the username of the admin.

2. Set the password for the new user [new_admin] with the following command:

sudo passwd [new_admin]

Server Status

The current status of TrueConf Server is displayed in line Server status as green text (if it is running) or red text (if it is stopped) in the upper right corner of the control panel:

What to do if server is not running?

The text Stopped is displayed in line Server status.

There are three possible reasons for this:

• Invalid license: contact your system supplier to get a license.

• Server files are missing or corrupted: please reinstall the TrueConf Server server (see the section Server Installation)

• The server hardware key has malfunctioned: please refer to the guide for resolving the key issue.

Server log

If issues arise on the server, TrueConf support can assist you more quickly and efficiently if you provide the server logs. The main server log can be viewed in the log accessible via the System → Server log button in the upper right corner.

To ensure the logs are as informative as possible, the option Enable detailed logging in the Dashboard → Settings section should be enabled. Technical support staff may ask you to do this to facilitate troubleshooting.

Do not enable detailed logging without a reason because it can unnecessarily occupy space with detailed log files.

Additionally, several supplementary log files are stored in the working directory TrueConf Server, which are discussed in detail in the relevant knowledge base article.

Configuring Preferences

Some settings can be set up personally for each TrueConf Server administrator. e.g., control panel interface language, time zone, and reports export parameters.

1. Go to the System → Preferences... menu in the upper right corner of the control panel.

2. Select your language and time zone. Please note that the time zone will be applied to your meetings in all server logs and during the scheduling process. You can use the time zone of the computer where your server is installed by checking the corresponding box.

3. In section Export to CSV, you can configure the report export settings, such as the encoding used and the delimiter character for representing table rows in text format.

After changing your preferences, click Apply to save them.

If version TrueConf Server is used on Linux OS and the time zone is changed with the Use device time zone checkbox selected, all server services need to be restarted.