E-platform for School Development
& Accountability (ESDA) Version 4.5.x
Administrator Manual
2022
Table of Contents
ABOUT THIS MANUAL ... 3
CHAPTER 1 : QUICK INSTALLATION OF ESDA ON WINDOWS SERVER 2012 ... 5
1.1 PRE-INSTALLATION CHECKLIST ... 5
1.2 NEW ESDAINSTALLATION ... 8
1.3 POST INSTALLATION CHECKLIST ... 19
1.4 CUSTOMIZATION ... 22
CHAPTER 2 : SYSTEM UPGRADE PROCEDURES FOR ESDA ... 27
2.1 AUTO-UPDATE ESDA UNDER WINDOWS PLATFORM ... 27
CHAPTER 3 : ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES ... 28
3.1 GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE TASKS ... 29
3.2 USER GROUP AND ACCOUNT ADMINISTRATION ... 36
3.3 BACKUP AND RECOVERY ... 41
3.4 PROBLEMS AND DIAGNOSES ... 43
3.5 ONLINE VERSION CONTROL SYSTEM ... 46
CHAPTER 4 : SUGGESTED SCHEDULED TASKS ... 49
4.1 UPGRADE ESDA TO THE LATEST VERSION ... 49
4.2 START A NEW SCHOOL YEAR... 50
4.3 IMPORT STAKEHOLDER SURVEY PACKAGE ... 50
4.4 IMPORT REFERENCE DATA PACKAGE ... 51
APPENDIX 1 – INSTALLATION OF ESDA ON OTHER WINDOWS PLATFORMS ... 52
APPENDIX 2 – CROSS-PLATFORM MIGRATION PROCEDURES ... 54
APPENDIX 3 – ESDA FILE STRUCTURES AND SOFTWARE COMPONENTS ... 55
APPENDIX 4 – UNINSTALLING ESDA ... 56
APPENDIX 5 – INSTALLING ESDA ON WINDOWS WITH EXISTING WEB SERVER ... 62
APPENDIX 6 – USER ACCOUNT INTEGRATION WITH OTHER SYSTEM(S) ... 67
APPENDIX 7 – OTHER ESDA CONFIGURABLE PARAMETERS ... 72
About this manual
This Administrator Manual is written on how to administer E-platform for School Development & Accountability (ESDA) version 4.5.x. For SEP specific information, please refer to its original edition.
The target readers of this Administrator Manual is System Administrator, or those who are authorized to install and administer ESDA server.
This Manual has the following four chapters -
Chapter 1 Quick Installation of ESDA on Windows Server
Chapter 2 System Upgrading for ESDA
Chapter 3 Administrative Procedures
Chapter 4 Suggested scheduled tasks
Besides the general administrative tasks mentioned in the above chapters, there are some further guidelines provided in the Appendices on the related features of ESDA.
Appendix 1 Installation of ESDA on other Windows Platforms
Appendix 2 Cross Platform Migration Procedures
Appendix 3 ESDA File structure and software Components
Appendix 4 Uninstalling ESDA
Appendix 5 Installing ESDA on Other Web server
Appendix 6 User account integration with other system(s)
Appendix 7 User account integration with Windows Active Directory
Special note about version 4.5.x:
Unlike previous version of ESDA, this version 4.5.x is completely rewritten in PHP 5. In order to integrate better with the operating system, Windows based Zend Server Community Edition is used. New features such as online program fix and data patching are now available;
but they are not implemented in Linux edition.
How to contact us
EDB welcomes schools to share with us their opinions and good practices in using ESDA. Please contact the Indicators Section of the Education Bureau to express any views and suggestions, or to share experiences by phone, fax or e-mail:
Telephone (852) 2892-6577 (852) 2892-6544
Fax (852) 2119-9074
E-mail indicators@edb.gov.hk
Chapter 1 : Quick Installation of ESDA on Windows Server 2012
This chapter provides the installation procedures for ESDA v4.5.x under Windows Server 2012.
Other than Windows Server 2012, the ESDA can be installed in the following operating systems:
Windows 10
For detailed information, please refer to the relevant Appendices.
Windows Server 2003 and Window Server 2008 End of life
Microsoft has announced that the end of life (EOL) for Windows Server 2003 (WS2003) and Windows Server 2008 (WS2008) are 14 July 2015 and 14 January 2020 respectively, users can no longer get the extended support. There will be no patches or security updates, WS2003 and WS2008 systems will become a security risk and compliance nightmare. Therefore, it is necessary to complete the system upgrade from WS2008 to WS2012 or its newer version before the EOL date.
The following are three major steps involved in the installation procedures:
Pre-Installation Checklist
Installation of ESDA
Post-Installation Checklist
1.1 Pre-Installation checklist
This section describes the pre-installation tasks such as identifying hardware requirements and gathering the necessary installation information that the Administrator should perform before moving onto the installation.
1.1.1 Suggested System Configurations
ESDA must be installed in a computer system with the configurations as stated in Appendix 1.
To ensure satisfactory performance, schools may refer to the following suggested system configurations:
Suggested system configurations
1. Processor Intel Xeon CPU 3.2 GHz or above
2. Memory 8 GB RAM or above
3. Hard Disk 10 GB Free storage space
4. Operating System Windows Server 2012 or above 5. Supported Web Browsers Chrome
6. Network Configuration Support TCP/IP network with a static IP address 7. Internet Information Services (IIS) IIS shall not be installed; and
IP port 80 is available for the use of the ESDA installation
Table 1.1: System Configurations
Whether the system configuration is appropriate depends much on how schools conduct ESDA survey. For example, the above configuration works well for schools that will conduct online ESDA survey of one class of students (approximately 40 students) at the same time. If schools are planning to conduct online ESDA survey of two or more classes at same time, faster processors and greater memory are recommended.
ESDA can be installed in Windows Workstations such as Windows 10. However Microsoft license agreement limits the concurrent number of connections to the application system installed in Windows Workstations. Therefore, installing ESDA system in Windows Workstation is applicable for individual schools to administer offline ESDA survey only.
In general, schools should install a new ESDA system under Windows Server 2012 R2 or its latest version. For schools having ESDA system already installed, they can keep using the existing hardware. They can perform server upgrading if necessary.
1.1.2 Installation of Necessary System Patch(es) and Browser
Please install Windows Server 2012 R2 or above. It is always recommended to install the latest service pack and update security patches. For detailed operations, please refer to Microsoft website (http://windowsupdate.microsoft.com).
The suggested web browser for the ESDA is Chrome.
The system also supports Safari on completing survey.
1.1.3 Other Recommended Software
It is always recommended to install Anti-Virus software and update the latest virus signature on the computer in which the ESDA is installed.
1.1.4 Network Configuration Checking
The ESDA package uses port 80 for Apache HTTP server. The Administrator is advised to disable the IIS service to make sure that port 80 is available for Apache HTTP server. If the server is using the IIS service for other purposes, the Administrator is advised to modify the Apache HTTP server port 80 to 8080. For detailed procedures, please refer to Appendix 5.
A static IP address should be assigned to the computer in which the ESDA is installed. If the server is designed for Internet access, it must be protected by a firewall and assigned to a routable IP address.
For any ESDA server that is connected to the Internet directly and allow Internet acccess, additional protection should be added such as using HTTPS port (i.e. port 443) instead of HTTP port (i.e. port 80). For details about SSL configuration, please refer to Appendix 5.
1.1.5 Reference Site for Checking Licensing Issue on Operating System
For detailed information, please refer to Microsoft Product licensing website (https://www.microsoft.com/licensing/terms/en-US/productoffering/CALSuites/OVSES).
1.2 New ESDA Installation
Once all the necessary components for the ESDA installation have been verified, the Administrator is ready to install the ESDA.
1.2.1 Installing ESDA
Step 1: Download the ESDA
1) Login to the Windows Server 2012 as an Administrator, or as a user with administration rights.
2) Launch a web browser and enter the URL “http://esda.edb.gov.hk”.
3) Download the full ESDA installation program (i.e. esda-v4.5.x.exe) and save it to your computer desktop.
Step 2: ESDA installation
Special Notes for Windows System Locale
If you are using English Windows Operation System, you shall change the Windows locale to Chinese (Hong Kong S.A.R.) before installation. For details, please refer to
“Change the System locale” after this section.
1) Double-click the package esda-v4.5.x.exe, a warning message then appears (Figure 1.1).
In the warning message dialog box, click the “YES” button to continue. (Warning: If there is Apache or MySQL installed in the machine, please click “NO” button to abort ESDA installation.)
Figure 1.1: Warning Message
2) On the License Agreement page (Figure 1.2), click “I Agree” button if you accept all terms of ESDA License Agreement.
Figure 1.2: ESDA License agreement
3) The Setup program will install ESDA in a default folder, click “Install” button (Figure 1.3).
Note:
The default folder is c:\esda; System Administrator can change the destination folder by clicking on “Browse” button.
Figure 1.3: Installation folder
ESDA is starting to install (Figure 1.4).
Figure 1.4: Installing ESDA
4) On the JRE installation page (Figure 1.5), click “Install >” button.
Figure 1.5: Java Setup
5) Run the JRE installation until a “Close” button prompts (Figure 1.6).
Figure 1.6: JRE Installed
6) On the Zend Server Community Edition 5.1 installation page (Figure 1.7), click “Next >”
button.
Figure 1.7: Zend Server installation
7) On the License Agreement page (Figure 1.8), select “I accept the terms of the license agreement” and click “Next >” button.
Figure 1.8: Zend Server License Agreement
8) On the Setup Type page (Figure 1.9), select “Custom” and click “Next >” button.
Figure 1.9: Zend Server Setup Type
9) On the Custom Setup page (Figure 1.10), select ALL options under PHP and click “Next
>” button.
Figure 1.10: Zend Server Custom Setup
10) On the Web Server Setup page (Figure 1.11), select “Install an Apache 2.2.16 Web Server” and click “Next >” button.
Figure 1.11: Web Server setup
11) On the Apache Port Number page (Figure 1.12), click “Next >” button.
Figure 1.12: Apache Port Number
12) On the Zend Server Installation Settings page (Figure 1.13), verify the installation items and click “Install” button.
Figure 1.13: Zend Server Installation Settings -PHP 5.3.5
-- COMMON Extensions -- Additional Extensions -- Zend Optimizer+
-- Zend Debugger -- Zend Data Cache -- Zend Java Bridge -- Zend Guard Loader - Zend Framework 1.11.3
-- Zend Framework Base - Oracle OCI Driver
- Apache Web Server on Port 10081
13) On the Installation success page (Figure 1.14), uncheck “Start working with Zend Server Community Edition” option and click “Finish” button.
Figure 1.14: Installation of Zend Server completed
14) The installation process will continue. Click “Close” button after the installation process is completed (Figure 1.15).
Figure 1.15: Installation of other software components
15) The ESDA installation program will then launch the web browser (Figure 1.16). Check on the Java Setting section for the encoding, it shall be Encode = MS950 or CP1252.
Figure 1.16: ESDA Installation Status report
Change the System Locale
The system locale determines the default character set (letters, symbols, and numbers) and font that you use to enter information and that are used to display information in programs that do not use Unicode. This allows non-Unicode programs to run on your computer using the specified language. You might need to change the default system locale when you install additional display languages on your computer. Selecting a different language for the system locale does not affect the language in menus and dialog boxes for Windows or other programs that do use Unicode.
1) In Windows Server, open Regional and Language Options (Start > Control Panel > “Regional and Language” Options).
2) Click the “Advanced” tab, under Language for non-Unicode programs (System Locale), change to
“Chinese (Hong Kong S.A.R.)”. Administrator permission required. If you are prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, enter the password or provide confirmation.
3) Click “OK” and restart your computer.
Figure 1.17: Change the System Locale
1.3 Post Installation Checklist
The following steps are the post installation checking procedures to verify that the ESDA is functional and usable.
1.3.1 Logon Test
1) Logon as an Administrator to the Windows Server 2012 where the ESDA is installed.
2) Launch a web browser.
3) Type in http://127.0.0.1/esda or http://<IP address or domain name>/esda.
4) The logon interface of ESDA will be displayed (Figure 1.18).
Figure 1.18: Logon page for ESDA
1.3.2 Logon the System Using Default User Account
The default username of an Administrator account is admin and the password is also admin.
For security reason, please change the password of the default administrator user account at once.
Figure 1.19: Main Menu of ESDA after fresh installation
1.3.3 System Setting Check
Mouse over “System Tools” and click “System Setting”, the following system setting summary page prompts. System Administrator shall run through section 1.4 to customize the ESDA.
Figure 1.20: ESDA System Setting Summary
1.3.4 System Health Check
System health check will check for the required system tools and resources, please run the following steps:
Figure 1.21: ESDA System Health Checking
1) Logon as “admin”;
2) Mouse over “System Tools” and then click “System setting”;
3) Click “System Health Checking” (Figure 1.21);
4) On the health check page, verify the following:
There is sufficient free disk space, suggested free space > 10GB
All status is [OK] instead of [Wrong]
Java version is “1.6.0_45”
Database structure is [OK] instead of [Table Structure Checking]…[Failed]
Checking Connection to EDB is [Connection OK]
Figure 1.22: Connection between ESDA and EDB
1.3.5 Disable Java Auto-update
Since ESDA Version 4.5.x only runs on Java run time “1.6 update 45”. System administrator must disable the auto update function and execute the following steps:
Figure 1.23: Java control panel
1) Launch Control Panel, double click Java icon;
2) On Update tag, uncheck the auto update check option (Figure 1.23);
3) Click “Never Check” on the popup screen;
4) Click “Apply” and then “OK”.
1.3.6 Upgrade the PHP version to 5.3.27
The default PHP version from the full install package is 5.3.14. It is recommended it to the last version of 5.3.x for security reason:
1) Locate the upgrade package PHP-5.3.27-Upgrade.exe, it shall be in c:\esda\installer folder;
2) Double click the file;
3) Restart ESDA after installation. See section 3.1.1.
1.4 Customization
To customize the ESDA, the System Administrator has to register the system with the school ESDA registration key and define the following parameters:
1) School badge 2) School year 3) System setting
1.4.1 Upload School Badge
The Administrator can update School Badge in “Interface Setting” (Figure 1.24).
1) Mouse over “System Tools” and then click “Interface Setting” button.
2) Click “browse” button to upload a new School Badge in JPEG format.
3) The Administrator can change the system color and the default language.
4) Click “Save” button.
Figure 1.24: System Parameters Settings
1.4.2 Update School Year
System Administrator can update “Current School Year” if necessary (Figure 1.25).
1) Mouse over “System Tools” and then click “System Setting”.
2) Click “School Year Setting”.
3) Select “Current School Year”.
4) Click “Save” button.
Figure 1.25: System Parameters Settings
1.4.3 System Registration
System Administrator has to register the system with the ESDA registration key (Figure 1.26).
To get the registration key, please contact the Indicators Section.
Figure 1.26: System Parameters
1) Mouse over “System Tools” and then click “System Setting”.
2) Click “System Registration”.
3) Enter the registration key as separated into five groups of 5 characters each.
4) Click “Save” button.
Figure 1.27: System Parameters
5) After registration, the system will be enabled with the automatic version checking feature.
The system will try to connect to the EDB version control server whenever the system setting page is accessing. To get more information about automatic version checking feature, please refer to section 3.5.
1.4.4 School Setting
School setting records the basic school information such as school name, SCRN, school session and school folder used (figure 1.28).
1) Mouse over “System Tools” and then click “System Setting”.
2) Click “School Setting”.
3) Enter the required information and click “Save” button.
Figure 1.28: School Setting
1.4.5 Other Links Setting Add other links (Figure 1.29).
Figure 1.29: Set Other Links
1.4.6 Password Management
Set the password length (minimum and maximum) and the password changing authorization (Figure 1.30).
Figure 1.30: Set the Password Length
Chapter 2 : System Upgrade Procedures for ESDA
Starting from version 4.0.0, ESDA upgrade packages are listed in the system update page.
For Windows platform, system upgrade automation is a built-in function. For non-Windows platform, the system update page will provide procedure or package. The following sections describe how to upgrade the system under different platforms.
2.1 Auto-update ESDA under Windows Platform
It is assuming that school is running ESDA version 4.0.0 or above. To use system auto-update, make sure that your system is connecting the Internet and accessible EDB servers.
For detail, please refer to section 1.3.4 system health check.
Step 1: System Backup 1) Logon to ESDA as “admin”;
2) Select “System Tools” > “System Backup Procedure”;
3) Click “Generate”.
4) Click the backup file URL and download the backup file to local folder.
Step 2: Auto update
1) Logon to ESDA as “admin”;
2) Select “System Tools” > “System Update”;
3) Click “Refresh”;
4) Click “Download” and “Install” button sequentially until all the updates are completed.
(For operation details, please refer to section 3.1.3)
Step 3: Restart the services
1) Logon the Windows server as “administrator”;
2) Locate the ESDA installer folder, e.g. c:/program files/esda/installer;
3) Run “serverRestart.bat”.
Post installation Checklist:
Schools shall also run the post installation steps as stated in section 1.3.1 to 1.3.4 after auto update.
Chapter 3 : Administrative Procedures
The administrative services can be grouped into the four categories (Table 3.1).
Administrative category Specific Tasks
General administrative tasks (Section 3.1)
Stop and start ESDA, updating school year, data archive and restore archived file.
User group and account administration
(Section 3.2)
Create and maintain user groups and accounts to ensure that each user can login the ESDA and access relevant resources.
Backup and recovery (Section 3.3)
Perform regular backups for restoration of the ESDA data.
Problems and diagnoses (Section 3.4)
Monitor the ESDA performance and detect problems.
Automatic version control system (Section 3.5)
Monitor the installed ESDA versions and the latest version published by EDB.
Table 3.1 ESDA Administrative Services
The ESDA provides two types of tools that help the Administrator to perform administrative tasks. The tools are described in the following table.
Tool Administrative Tasks
Data Archive Archive questionnaires and log sheets.
Health checking Provide an ESDA system with a status report to diagnose problems.
Table 3.2 ESDA Administrative Tools
This chapter will elaborate on the following administrative tasks:
General administrative tasks
User group and account administration
Backup and recovery
Problems and diagnoses
3.1 General Administrative Tasks
To maintain the system, some administrative tasks have to be performed regularly. To stop or start the ESDA system, the Administrator can stop or start the Apache and MySQL service. After stopping the Apache and MySQL service, no one can access the ESDA. For checking the system status, the simplest way is Logon / Logout the system. The system should work properly if there is no problem in both Logon and Logout procedures. For each new school year, the Administrator should change the current school year before importing new user accounts.
3.1.1 Stop and Start ESDA
This section describes how to stop and start the ESDA.
A) Stop the ESDA
1) Click “Start” menu and “Control Panel” (Figure 3.1).
Figure 3.1 Open the Control Panel
2) Click “Administrative Tools” icon (Figure 3.2).
Figure 3.2 Open the Administrative Tools
3) Click “Services” icon (Figure 3.3).
Figure 3.3 Open the “Services”
4) Click “Apache2.2-Zend” Service and “Stop” icon (Figure 3.4).
Figure 3.4 Stop the Apache service
5) Click “Zend Java Bridge” Service and “Stop” button (Figure 3.5).
Figure 3.5 Stop the Zend Java Bridge service
6) Click “MySQL” Service and “Stop” button (Figure 3.6).
Figure 3.6 Stop the My SQL service
B) Start the ESDA
7) Click “Apache2.2-Zend” Service and “Start” button (Figure 3.7).
Figure 3.7 Start the Apache service
8) Click the “Zend Java Bridge” Service and “Start” button (Figure 3.8).
Figure 3.8 Start the Zend Java Bridge
9) Click “MySQL” Service and “Start” icon (Figure 3.9).
Figure 3.9 Start the MySQL service
3.1.2 Updating School Year
The System Administrator should update the school year before the commencement of the next school year. After updating the school year, all class level(s) and class(es) are removed from the system. All student user accounts could not be found in any class level or class group until the Administrator updates the accounts again.
Figure 3.10 Update Current School Year
To update the school year, the Administrator can select the new “Current School Year”
and click “Save” (Figure 3.10). School years are created automatically after the first day of the school year.
For detailed procedures, please refer to the Operation Manual.
3.1.3 System Update
The new version of ESDA comes with an automatic system update routine. System Administrator may find the new user interface by selecting “System Tools” > “System Update”.
The new user interface consists of the following components:
Item Component Detail
1 Patching Log A list of system patches in an update order for System Administrator to take action.
2 View A detailed description about the system patch.
3 Online Install System Administrator shall follow the update sequence of “download” and “install” to complete a system update.
4 Manual Install In case the system cannot fetch the update file, System Administrator may manually upload the patching file to
the system and then press the “install” button.
5 Status There is a status link on the patching log. It can be either success or fail; whereas empty means not applied. System Administrator may click the link to review the status.
Figure 3.11 System Update Log
Operation:
(1) Logon the system as administrator, the system will run the version control process automatically and prompt a message if any new update is found (Figure 3.12). Click
“OK” to continue.
Figure 3.12 System Update Warning
(2) The system will automatically jump to the system update page. System Administrator shall find some outstanding transactions at the end of the list (Figure 3.11).
(3) System Administrator shall click the “Download” button and check the download date.
(4) System Administrator shall then click the “Install” button and check the Installation date and status.
(5) System Administrator shall work on the next outstanding transaction until all system patches has been applied.
Note:
It is recommended that System Administrator shall run a backup on the existing system before making any change to the system.
3.2 User Group and Account Administration
ESDA has five types of pre-defined groups and three types of user accounts. For groups, they are System Group, Form Group, Class Group, Survey group, and Privilege Group. For user accounts, they are students and/or parents, teachers and administrators.
3.2.1 Introduction to Groups and User accounts
This section illustrates details of the pre-defined groups and user accounts.
A) Groups
The five types of groups are System Group, Form Group, Class Group, Survey group, and Privilege Group. All these pre-defined groups cannot be added or deleted. These five groups are used to help the Administrator to group a list of users with common properties. Each group includes its respective Chinese and English names, as well as a list of users. Except Survey Group, they all have privileges assigned.
“System Group” includes pre-defined user groups which cannot be added or deleted.
They are: 1) Administrator, 2) Teacher, 3) Student, 4) Parent and 5) Others.
“Form Group” is used to group students into forms. Schools can define Form Group according to the operating class levels. It includes a “CLASSLVL” code.
“Class Group” is used to group students into classes. Schools can define Class Group according to the operating class levels. It includes a “CLASSCODE” code. The relationship between classes (e.g. 1A) and forms (e.g. P1) can be built when adding or updating the classes.
Form Group and Class Group can be created through the web interface or created automatically through Excel file import. Codes (“CLASSLVL” and “CLASSCODE”) must be assigned to Form Group and Class Group of a particular school year.
“Survey Group” is used to group users with common properties (e.g. students with computers at home, and students without computers at home) for group comparison in a survey analysis. The resulting privilege(s) for each account is/are the aggregated privileges of all groups that the user belongs to. There are two types of survey groups. The Global Survey Group is created by the Administrator and can be used for respondents assigned by the Survey Manager when creating a survey. The Local Survey Group is created by the Survey Manager and can be used in a particular survey only.
“Privilege Group” is used to assign specific access rights to a list/group of users. The Administrator can create user groups with various combination of privileges assigned.
All the groups’ properties are summarised in the following table.
Group Type Group Type’s Properties Group Example
System Group
It is inherited in ESDA system and cannot be created/ edited /deleted.
When import batch students, parents and teachers accounts via Excel file, user
accounts will be automatically assigned into the respective system groups (i.e. students assigned to “Students” Group).
Administrator Group
Teacher Group
Student Group
Parent Group
Other Group
Form Group
When batch students accounts have been imported via Excel file, form group will automatically be created.
OR
The Administrator can manually create it.
Form Name: Primary one
Form Code: P1
Class Group
When batch student accounts have been imported via Excel file, class group will automatically be created.
OR
The Administrator can manually create it.
Class Name: 1A
Class Code: 1A
Survey Group
There are two types of Survey Groups:
Global Survey Group and Local Survey Group
Global Survey Group(s) is/are created by the Administrator in User Management Module, in which Global Survey Group can be assigned to all surveys.
Local Survey Group(s) is/are created by the Survey editor, in which the Local Survey Group will be attached to a particular survey for result analysis purpose.
It is created to facilitate standardised survey respondents retrieval and survey results analysis across years
Global Survey Group:
Pilot Students, Science Subjects Group, Arts Subjects Group
Privilege Group
It is manually created by the Administrator.
It is created to assign privileges to a group of users.
Privilege Group:
Survey Creators, Survey Item Bank Administrators
Table 3.3 Group Type’s Properties
B) User Accounts
In the ESDA, there are three types of user accounts. They are students and/or parents, teachers and administrators. To create student and/or parent user accounts, the Administrator can import the Student users from WebSAMS or create them in the ESDA system. To create teacher user accounts, the Administrator can import teacher user accounts from spreadsheet or create them in the ESDA. To create administrator user account, the Administrator can create it in the ESDA.
3.2.2 Group Planning Strategy
Planning of grouping strategy in ESDA will streamline administration. This section presents the guidelines for implementing survey groups and privilege groups.
A) Survey Group Planning
The Administrator is advised to set up survey group for a particular survey (e.g. 1A Intranet System Usage) and add the appropriate user accounts (e.g. 1A Student User Accounts) to the survey group. This can facilitate cross group (e.g. 1A and 1B) and time (e.g. Intranet usage survey for 1A between 12-March-2017 and 12-April-2017) comparison for survey analysis.
B) Privilege Group Planning
The Administrator is advised to create privilege group(s) based on resource access needs.
For example, creating a privilege group with survey item bank management rights for the Survey Manager, or creating a privilege group to manage school based attribute(s).
3.2.3 Account Policy Planning
The account policy determines how passwords should be used by user accounts. The account policy sets the requirements for:
Password minimum length
Password uniqueness
Set the changing password authorization to each user type
To use an account policy to provide security for user accounts, the Administrator may consider the following:
Define a minimum length for password. The longer the password, the higher the security level. In a medium security system, the recommended password length is 6-8 characters.
Unique password for all user accounts.
Before a new school year starts, the Administrator needs to update student user accounts (Please refer to section 3.2.5). Within a school year, the Administrator may need to update student user account (e.g. a student is transferred from 1A to 1B).
If school has set up school-based Intranet system, the Administrator can replace the
“LOGINID” and “PASSWORD” column in the EXCEL file by the login name and password of the school-based Intranet. For detailed operation procedures, please refer to the Operation Manual.
3.2.4 Add, Edit and Delete Groups and Users Accounts
The Administrator can add, edit and delete Groups and User Accounts. For detailed operation procedures, please refer to the Operation Manual.
3.2.5 Import User Accounts from WebSAMS
To facilitate the Administrator to create student accounts, a set of procedures is prepared for the Administrator to extract the student accounts from WebSAMS. For detailed procedures, please refer to the Operation Manual.
When importing user accounts from the EXCEL file, the system will perform the following tasks: 1) add new user accounts, 2) update existing user accounts, 3) delete existing user accounts, and 4) create Class Groups (forms and classes). The system uses the registration number to compare user accounts between/among existing user accounts in the database and the user information in the EXCEL file. Detailed descriptions of the tasks are as follows:
1) There is a user in the EXCEL file but there is no existing user account with the same registration number in the database. The system creates a new user account with the data in the EXCEL file. (Add a new user account)
2) There is a user account in the database as well as a user in the EXCEL file with the same registration number. The system updates the user account in the database with the data in the EXCEL file. The class and form are also updated (class promotion) according to the user information in the EXCEL file. (Update an existing user account)
3) There is a user account in the database but no user data in the EXCEL file with the same registration number. Then the system removes the user account from the database.
(Delete an existing user account)
4) The system creates Class Groups (forms and classes) if the Class Groups do not exist in the specific school year. The system creates Class Groups according to the
“CLASSCODE” and “CLASSLVL” in the EXCEL files. It uses the “CLASSCODE” and
“CLASSLVL as the Chinese names, English names, and codes of the Class Groups. The system compares the current school year and the code in the Class Group and creates new Class Groups if the codes do not exist in the database. The codes in the Class Groups are used to prevent duplicated creation of Class Groups in the same school year. For example, if the school year is “2017-18” and there is a Class Group with a code “1A”, when the Administrator imports a 2017-18 school year EXCEL file with “1A” in “CLASSCODE”
field, the system will not create a Class Group “1A”.
3.2.6 Privilege Setting
To set privileges for user groups, the Administrator can click “Set Privilege” button next to the target user group (Fig 3.13) and then check the privileges to be assigned to the target user group and click “Save” button (Figure 3.14).
Figure 3.13 Set Privilege
Figure 3.14 Privilege setting
3.2.7 Best Practices
To minimize tedious jobs of ESDA group(s) and user accounts creation, the Administrator is recommended to use the “batch user account creation” to create student accounts, parent accounts and all school-based-group(s) (e.g. class and form groups). For detailed procedures, please refer to the Operation Manual.
3.3 Backup and Recovery
System Administrator should daily back up the ESDA directory, e.g. “c:\program files\esda”, to a removable media, such as tape or extenal hard disk. To check the installed directory and launch the backup procedure:
Figure 3.15 System Backup
Two directories (“c:\Program Files\ESDA\db\backupLog” and “c:\Program Files\ESDA\mysql\data” – must be properly copied. The first directory (i.e. “c:\Program Files\ESDA\db\backupLog”) is the backup data directory. The second directory (i.e.
“c:\Program Files\ESDA\mysql\data”) is user data directory. All Surveys and Survey Items are stored in MySQL database.
Note:
System Administrator must stop the ESDA system before running the backup tools, and start the system again when the backup process is completed.
To stop ESDA service: run “c:/program files/esda/installer/serverStop.bat”
To start ESDA service: run “c:/program files/esda/installer/serverStart.bat”
3.3.1 System Backup Procedures
1) Mouse over “System Tools” and then click “System Backup Procedure”.
2) Check the “Installed Directory”.
3) Click the “Generate” button to generate the database backup. A backup file will be generated with the format as “esda-patch_level-YYYY-MM-DD-hhmmss.sql”.
4) For complete ESDA directory backup, stop the ESDA service and then copy the installed directory (e.g. c:\program file\esda) to a backup folder (e.g. d:\esda_backup) or backup device.
Note:
System patch level is very important to data restore procedure; thus, it is marked in the backup file name. System Administrator can verify this by compare the file name with the last record in the system update log. Patch level default value “0000” indicates that there is no system update log.
3.3.2 To recover data of ESDA
To recover data of the ESDA, please make a copy of the above-mentioned installed directory and backup folder first. The simplest way is to rename the folders and remove them after the recovery task has been completed.
To start the recovery task, the System Administrator should stop the ESDA (refer to 3.1.1A), copy the backup data from backup device (e.g. Backup Tape) to the corresponding directories (e.g. c:\Program Files\ESDA\*) and then start the ESDA (refer to 3.1.1B).
3.3.3 To recover a crashed ESDA system
If the ESDA crashes, System Administrator should uninstall and install the ESDA again.
It is suggested that the System Administrator restore the latest backup data. To uninstall the ESDA, please refer to Appendix 4. To install a new ESDA, please refer to chapter 1.
It shall be noted that ESDA program and data must be in the same patch level before it is functioning properly. If System Administrator is planning to reinstall the system, System Administrator must apply the system to the patch level of the backup database before restoring the database. To find out the patch level, System Administrator shall refer to the system patching log as stated in section 3.1.3; or from the backup filename as stated in section 3.3.1.
3.4 Problems and Diagnoses
This section describes the tools and procedures for some common problems that may be encountered.
3.4.1 Resetting User Password
The Administrator can select a class (e.g. Form 1A), select the student(s) and click “Reset Password” button. For detailed procedures, please refer to the Operation Manual.
3.4.2 Windows Event Log Monitoring
The Windows Server 2012 or above provides a tool called “Event Viewer” in the
“Control Panel”. With Event Viewer, the Administrator can monitor events recorded in event logs. According to the event logs, the Administrator can understand the system workload and the corresponding effect on the system's resources. The event logs assist the Administrator to diagnose problems. According to the information from Microsoft (http://www.microsoft.com), the recommended procedures are:
1) Logon Windows Server 2012 or above as an server administrator 2) Click Start Control Panel Administrative Tools Event Viewer.
3) To open Event Viewer and to refresh the view, on the Action menu click Refresh.
3.4.3 ESDA System Log Monitoring
In the ESDA, there are six types of system log to help the Administrator to review daily operations. They are Logon, Invalid Logon, User Management, Survey Item Bank, Survey Generator, Data Archive and Data Capturer (Figure 3.16). For each type of operations, the system logs contain different detailed information. Table 3.4 shows the details recorded in each type of operation.
Figure 3.16 System Log
To view the log records, select a date range and a log type and then click the “Search”
button (Figure 3.17). The system shows a list of logs with a date, an operator and an operation field. To view the details of the logs, click the “View” button next to the log to be viewed and the system shows the details of the log with remarks (Figure 3.18).
Figure 3.17 Search system logs
Figure 3.18 Log details
For detailed procedures, please refer to the Operation Manual.
Category Log Type Remark
User Management Add User “loginid”, “userid”, “name (en)”, “name (zh)”
User Management Update User “loginid”, “userid”, “name (en)”, “name (zh)”
User Management Delete User “loginid”, “userid", “name (en)”, “name (zh)”
User Management Restore Deleted User "loginid”, “userid", “name (en)”, “name (zh)”
User Management Import User "loginid”, “userid", “name (en)”, “name (zh)”
Group Management Add Group “groupid", “name (en)”, “name (zh)”
Group Management Update Group “groupid", “name (en)”, “name (zh)”
Group Management Delete Group “groupid", “name (en)”, “name (zh)”
Group Management Set Privilege “groupid”, “name (en)”, “name (zh)”, “privilege list”
Login User Login Record “userid”, “loginid”, “accessip”
Survey Item Bank Management
Add Folder “Full path”, “Folder Names (Chinese and English)”
Survey Item Bank Management
Update Folder “Full path”, “Folder Names (Chinese and English)”
Survey Item Bank Management
Delete Folder “Full path”, “Folder Names (Chinese and English)”
Survey Management Add Survey "Survey Title”, “Survey ID”, “Full path”
Survey Management Copy Survey "Survey Title”, “Survey ID” , “Full path”
Survey Management Update Survey "Survey Title”, “Survey ID” , “Full path”
Survey Management Delete Survey "Survey Title”, “Survey ID” , “Full path”
Data Archive Management Archive data “Date Range”, “Scope of Data”, “File Name”
Data Archive Management Restore data “Data Range”, “Scope of Data”, “File Name”
Data Capture Input data “Survey Title”, “Survey ID”, “Reference Number”
Table 3.4 System Logs Information
3.4.4 Health Checking
In the ESDA, there is a tool for health checking. It is recommended that the Administrator follow the steps:
1) Mouse over “System Tools” and then click “System setting”.
2) Click “System Health Checking” (Figure 3.19).
Figure 3.19 ESDA System Setting
3) The system shows the status of the machine and the installed components (Figure 3.20).
Figure 3.20 ESDA Installation Status report
3.5 Online Version Control System
ESDA version control system is enhanced with the system update log to ensure school’s ESDA System is the most updated version.
3.5.1 Retrieving Version Information
Whenever the System Administrator logon to the ESDA, the system will try to connect to EDB server, the following version information prompt appears:
Figure 3.21 ESDA version comparison table
In case of that any mismatching between local installation and EDB suggested values, and there may be some outstanding patches, an alert message will be shown and then jump to the system update log page automatically. For details, please refer to ESDA operation manual, section 2.8.
Figure 3.22 ESDA new update message
3.5.2 Retrieving Data submission status
Whenever schools submitted ESDA data to EDB, the system will retrieve the confirmation status of the submitted data package throught the version control module.
Confirmation information will be retrieved no matter schools are sending data to EDB via CDS or sending it directly to the EDB server.
3.5.3 To disable the Version Control System
System Administrator may disable or by-pass the version control system by the following methods:
1) Mouse over “System Tools” and click “System Setting”;
2) Click “Advanced System Setting” link;
3) Check “No” in “Enable ‘Version Check’ ”; Click “Save” button.
Figure 3.23 ESDA advanced system setting
3.5.4 Import Reference Data Package
System Administrator may import reference data package by the following steps:
Figure 3.24 Import reference data package
1) Mouse over “Report viewer” and then click “Report viewer”;
2) In the listing menu, select “Import Reference Data Package”;
3) Browse and find the reference data package file downloaded from the ESDA website;
4) Click “Import” button to complete.
Figure 3.25 Import reference data package
3.5.5 Import Survey Package
System Administrator may import the stakeholder survey package by the following steps:
Figure 3.26 Import stakeholder survey package
1) Mouse over “Survey Administration” and click “Import Survey Package”;
2) Click “Import Stakeholder Survey Package”;
3) Browse and find the survey package file downloaded from the ESDA website;
4) Click “Import” button to complete.
Figure 3.27 Import stakeholder survey package
Chapter 4 : Suggested Scheduled Tasks
System Administrator should monitor the installed ESDA system regularly. The following table summarises the suggested tasks and schedules for reference:
Tasks Suggested Schedules Reference
1 System Backup before upgrade Before carrying out ESDA system upgrade
Administrator Manual
2 Upgrade ESDA to the latest version
September or October;
April or May
(or when new upgrade package is available)
Administrator Manual
3 Start a new school year September or October Operation Manual 4 Import Student user list September or October Operation Manual 5 Update Teacher user list September or October Operation Manual 6 Import Stakeholder Survey
package
Before publishing stakeholder survey
Survey Administration Guide
7 Scheduled System Backup Daily Administrator Manual
Table 4.1: Scheduled administrative tasks
This chapter will elaborate on the following administrative tasks:
Upgrade ESDA to the latest version
Start a new school year
Import Stakeholder Survey Package
Import Reference Data Package
4.1 Upgrade ESDA to the latest version
System Administrator should visit the ESDA website (http://esda.edb.gov.hk/) and download the new upgrade package of ESDA system. For system upgrade, the System Administrator should:
Download and read the guidelines for applying update patch;
Schedule a suitable time for the task;
Complete a full backup on ESDA system and data;
Complete all outstanding surveys published;
Print all survey reports and save all softcopies (if applicable);
Be prepared for roll back procedure (in case the upgrade task fails);
Run the upgrade and verify if it is completed successfully.
4.2 Start a new school year
The ESDA system can store student records of one school year only. When the system has been set to a new school year, all student records in the previous school year are deleted.
Therefore before changing the system to a new school year, it is necessary to do the following:
Complete a full backup on ESDA system and data;
Complete all outstanding surveys published;
Print all survey reports and save all softcopies (if applicable);
Be prepared for roll back procedure;
Change the school year;
Import student records for the new school year;
Update teacher records for the new school year;
Import stakeholder survey package for the new school year;
Import reference data package for the new school year (if necessary).
Warning:Once the system has changed into a new school year with student records imported, there is no other means to restore it back to its previous stage other than the system rolls back. Contact the Indicators Section of the Education Bureau if you have problems to roll back your system at this point.
4.3 Import Stakeholder Survey Package
For each school year, EDB will publish a specific stakeholder survey package for that school year. School should download and import the stakeholder survey package for the current school year. Before importing the package, the System Administrator should:
Change the current school year;
Import student user lists;
Download the stakeholder survey package from the ESDA website;
Import the package to the system;
Since uploading the package to the system may take some time, the System Administrator must be patient until “100% completed” is shown in the status bar;
Download and import the reference data if available;
Publish the stakeholder surveys or APASO surveys for that year.
4.3.1 To cancel a published survey
A published survey without any response can be cancelled. To cancel a survey, click
“Detail” button next to the survey listed in System Administration. Click “Cancel Survey” button.
4.3.2 To reset the ESDA survey and KPM data
The System Administrator can remove all the published stakeholder surveys, APASO surveys and KPM data to the stage that it was imported. You should obtain an activation key from EDB to complete the process. Contact the Indicators Section of the Education Bureau in case you are planning to do so.
4.4 Import Reference Data Package
EDB may publish a territory wide reference data together with the KPM report. School should download and import the reference data package. Before importing the package, the System Administrator should:
Download the reference data package from the ESDA website;
Import the package to the system;
Since uploading the package to the system may take some time, the System Administrator must be patient until “100% completed” is shown in the status bar;
Run the KPM reports to get the latest version.
Appendix 1 – Installation of ESDA on other Windows Platforms
The System Administrator can follow the same procedures as mentioned in Sections 1.2 – 1.4 to install, verify and customize the ESDA on Windows platforms other than Windows Server 2012.
1-1. Minimum and Recommended Hardware Requirements for Different Windows Platforms
1) Windows 10 (Table A1)
Minimum Configurations Recommended Configurations CPU: Intel P4 2.4GHz
Memory: 2GB RAM Hard Disk: 5GB disk space Display Card: VGA compatible
Network Card: Intel interface 10 / 100M Keyboard and mouse
CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.8GHz or above Memory: 4GB RAM
Hard Disk: 10GB disk space Display Card: VGA compatible
Network Card: Intel interface 10 / 100M Keyboard and mouse
Table A1 Minimum and recommended hardware requirement for Windows workstations
2) Windows Server 2012 (Table A2)
Minimum Configurations Recommended Configurations CPU: Intel Xeon 2.13 GHz
Memory: 4GB RAM Hard Disk: 5GB disk space Display Card: VGA compatible
Network Card: Intel interface 10 / 100M Keyboard and mouse
CPU: Intel Xeon 3.2 GHz or above Memory: 8GB RAM
Hard Disk: 10GB disk space Display Card: VGA compatible
Network Card: Intel interface 10 / 100M Keyboard and mouse
Table A2 Minimum and recommended hardware requirement for Windows Server 2012
1-2. Special Notes to Installation on Windows Server 2012
Windows Server 2012 is security hardened so that writing or amending files to c:\Program files directory are restricted. Therefore, it is recommended to install the system to other drive, e.g. d:\esda or c:\esda by default.
1-3. Special Notes to Windows Server 2012 R2 (64-bit System)
Windows Server 2012 Release 2 is 64 bit system, and ESDA version 4.5.x has been tested under this version. The installation steps are as follows:
Logon as “administrator” rather than user with administrator’s right and start the installation;
Copy the package to any temporary folder, e.g. desktop;
Right click the package file and select “properties”;
On “Compatibility” tag, select the “run as administrator” option;
Double click the package file to run the installation program.
Appendix 2 – Cross-Platform Migration Procedures
Step 1. Dump the database from MySQL in the source machine.
> mysqldump –u sep sep > sepbackup-yyyymmdd.sql
Step 2. Pack the data files in the source machine.
zip or tar the data file directory – esda/datadir zip or tar the template directory – esda/res
Step 3. Copy the database file and data files from the source machine to the target machine.
(Before processing Steps 4 to 6, schools must ensure that the same version of the ESDA has been installed in both the target machine and the source machine.)
Step 4. Remove the default database and create an empty database in MySQL in the target machine.
> mysql –u sep sep
mysql> drop database sep;
mysql> create database sep;
mysql> exit;
Step 5. Import the database file into MySQL in target machine.
> mysql –u sep sep < sepbakup-mmyydd.sql
Step 6. Copy the data files to the corresponding directory in the target machine.
unzip or untar the data file directory – esda/datadir unzip or untar the template directory – esda/res
Appendix 3 – ESDA File Structures and Software Components
The ESDA includes the following components:
3-1. Windows installation
Components Version Default path
Zend Server CE 5.x C:\Program Files\Zend
Java Run time 1.6 update 45 C:\Program Files\java\jre6
ESDA 4.5.x C:\esda *
MySQL 5.x C:\esda\mysql
MySQL Data C:\esda\mysql\data\esda
Program Script C:\esda\www
Program Library C:\esda\lib
Data File C:\esda\datadir
Template folder C:\esda\res
* This is the default installation path of ESDA system; other paths below are relative to this.
Appendix 4 – Uninstalling ESDA
I. ESDA Version 3.x
The ESDA can be uninstalled with the following procedures:
1) Open Control Panel and Click “Add/Remove Programs” (Figure D1).
Figure D1 Add/Remove Programs
1
2) Click the “Remove” button next to “Apache HTTP Server 2.0.52” (Figure D2).
Figure D2 Un-install Apache HTTP Server
3) Click the “Yes” button to confirm (Figure D3).
Figure D3 Confirm un-install Apache HTTP Server
2
3
4) Click the “Change/Remove” button (Figure D4).
Figure D4 Un-install ESDA
5) Click the “Uninstall” button to confirm (Figure D5).
Figure D5 Confirm ESDA Un-installation
4
5
6) Click the “Close” button to complete (Figure D6).
Figure D6 Un-install ESDA completed
7) Select the Apache2 folder, and delete the “Apache2” directory (Figure D7).
Figure D7 Remove Apache2 directory
6
7
II. ESDA Version 4.5.x
The ESDA can be uninstalled with the following procedures:
1) Open Control Panel and Click “Add/Remove Programs” (Figure D8).
Figure D8 Add/Remove Programs
2) Click the “Remove” button next to “Zend Server Community Edition” (Figure D9).
Figure D9 Un-install Zend Server CE
1
2
3) Click the “Change/Remove” button next to “SEP” (Figure D10).
Figure D10 Un-install SEP
4) Click the “Uninstall” button to confirm (Figure D11).
Figure D11 Confirm SEP Un-installation
3
4
Appendix 5 – Installing ESDA on Windows with existing Web Server
5-1 Installing ESDA on Windows with existing IIS running
Stop-run the IIS Web server in the Windows control panel
Follow the steps in section 1.2.1 to complete installation
Edit the Apache configuration file
(e.g. C:\Program Files\Zend\Apache2\conf\httpd.conf)
- Change the listening port 80 (e.g. Listen 80 => Listen 8080)
Restart the Apache2 Service (please refer to section 3.1.1)
Start IIS Service
Access the system with the new port
- e.g. http://127.0.0.1:8080/esda/ OR http://<ipaddress>/esda/
Note: Please update the domain name or IP in system settings.
5-2 Configure Apache Server to run on Port 443
To configure Apache Server to run on Port 443, a valid server certificate file is required.
Schools may purchase a valid e-Cert from some trustee parties or schools may follow the following steps to generate a self signed certificate file:
1. Generate Self signed certificate
BIN\openssl genrsa –des3 –out server.key 2048 –config CONF\openssl.cnf
Enter pass phrase for server.key, e.g. password
Check if “server.key” is generated in c:\program files\zend\apache2
BIN\openssl req –new –key server.key –out server.csr –config CONF\openssl.cnf
Enter the pass phrase as input in the above step;
Enter the country name, e.g. HK Enter the State, e.g. Hongkong Enter Locality Name, e.g. Hongkong
Enter Organization Name, e.g. Testing Primary School A Enter Organization Unit Name, e.g. esda
Enter your name, e.g. esda.schoola.edu Enter your email, e.g. test@schoola.edu Enter a challenge password, e.g. password Enter an optional company name, e.g. <nil>
Check if “server.csr” is generated in c:\program files\zend\apache2
BIN\openssl x509 –req –days 3650 –in server.csr –signkey server.key –out server.crt
Enter pass phrase for server.key, e.g. password
Check if “server.crt” is generated in c:\program files\zend\apache2
BIN\openssl rsa –in server.key –out server.key
Enter pass phrase for server.key, e.g. password
Note: server.key is updated in c:\program files\zend\apache2
Backup: copy all the files (server.*) in c:\program files\zend\apache2 to a safe place
Copy server.crt to C:\Program files\Zend\Apache\conf
Copy server.key to C:\Program files\Zend\Apache\conf
2. Apache configuration
Edit c:\program files\zend\Apache2\conf\httpd.conf
remove symbol “#” on “Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf”, see below:
# Secure (SSL/TLS) connections Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf
#
# Note: The following must must be present to support
add “SLLRequireSSL” inside the SEP section, see below:
# SEP
Alias /esda "C:/Program Files/esda/www/"
<Directory "C:/Program Files/esda/www">
SSLRequireSSL AllowOverride All Options None Order allow,deny Allow from all
</Directory>
add the following commands at the end of the file:
Order allow,deny Allow from all
</Directory>
RewriteEngine On
RewriteCond %{HTTPS} off
RewriteRule (.*) https://%{HTTP_HOST}%{REQUEST_URI}
3. Restart Server
Restart service “Apache2.2-Zend” in the service control panel or run <esda>/installer/serverRestart.bat