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Supporting Applications Overview

ScrewDrivers includes several supporting applications that help you analyze, configure, optimize, and maintain your ScrewDrivers database and products. These specialized utilities provide access to advanced configuration options, diagnostic logging, and database management functions that complement the primary ScrewDrivers Administration interface. This chapter details each supporting application and explains when you'd use it in your daily operations.

Overview​

The supporting applications fall into several categories: proxy and connection management (ScrewDrivers Connector and Database Connection), licensing configuration (ScrewDrivers Licenses), diagnostic tools (ScrewDrivers Logs), and printer management (ScrewDrivers Print Server). You'll find these applications installed wherever you install a ScrewDrivers product, typically accessible through the Start menu under Tricerat or via desktop shortcuts.

Each supporting application serves a specific purpose in the ScrewDrivers ecosystem. Some applications you'll use during initial setup and rarely touch afterward (like Database Connection), while others become part of your regular troubleshooting workflow (like ScrewDrivers Logs). Understanding what each application does and when to use it will help you manage your ScrewDrivers deployment more effectively.

Note: This chapter doesn't cover ScrewDrivers Printer Discovery (detailed in the Managing ScrewDrivers Direct Printers chapter) or ScrewDrivers Reports (detailed in the ScrewDrivers Reports chapter).

ScrewDrivers Connector​

ScrewDrivers Connector manages your ScrewDrivers Cloud Connector proxy settings. You'll use this application when configuring network proxies for communication between your ScrewDrivers components and cloud services.

Opening ScrewDrivers Connector​

You can open ScrewDrivers Connector in two ways: double-click the ScrewDrivers Connector desktop icon, or open the Start menu and under Tricerat, double-click ScrewDrivers Connector.

Connector Modes​

The application consists of a single window for managing your ScrewDrivers database connections. The installation location of the ScrewDrivers Cloud Connector determines which mode ScrewDrivers Connector opens in.

When you install the Cloud Connector where your end users are creating printers (such as your Terminal Servers or VDIs), ScrewDrivers Connector opens in Internal mode. This mode configures the connector for local printer creation and management. When you install the Cloud Connector where the ScrewDrivers Print Server is being hosted, ScrewDrivers Connector opens in Remote mode. This mode configures the connector for communication with remote Print Server instances.

The visual appearance and available options differ between Internal and Remote modes, reflecting the different configuration needs of each deployment scenario. Internal mode focuses on local resource management, while Remote mode emphasizes network connectivity and proxy configuration for remote communication.

When to Use ScrewDrivers Connector​

You'll typically use ScrewDrivers Connector during initial deployment when you're setting up cloud connectivity, or when you're making network infrastructure changes that affect proxy settings. In most day-to-day operations, once you've configured the connector settings during initial setup, you won't need to access this application frequently.

ScrewDrivers Database Connection​

ScrewDrivers Database Connection manages database connection settings for your ScrewDrivers products. This application lets you configure or modify the SQL Server connection parameters that ScrewDrivers uses to access its database.

Important: Generally, after the initial installation of a ScrewDrivers product and under normal operating conditions, you don't have to modify the values for the ScrewDrivers database. You'd only use this application if you're migrating databases, changing SQL Server instances, or troubleshooting connection issues.

Opening Database Connection​

You can open ScrewDrivers Database Connection in two ways: double-click the ScrewDrivers Database Connection desktop icon, or open the Start menu and under Tricerat, double-click ScrewDrivers Database Connection.

Database Connection Window​

The application consists of a single window for managing your ScrewDrivers database connections. The window displays fields for server name, database name, authentication method, and related connection parameters. After entering or editing the information, click Test Connection to verify your settings.

If the information is correct, a "Connection Test Passed" message opens, indicating that the connection test was successful. If the test fails, an Error message opens, indicating the connection test failed and showing the source of the error. You must correct the error and retest the connection until a "Connection Test Passed" message opens.

After successfully testing the connection, click OK to close the Connection Test Passed message, then click Save to save the database connection information. The saved connection parameters take effect immediately for all ScrewDrivers services that use this database connection configuration.

When to Use Database Connection​

You'll use ScrewDrivers Database Connection primarily in three scenarios: during initial installation to configure your database connection, when migrating your ScrewDrivers database to a different SQL Server instance, or when troubleshooting database connectivity issues. The Test Connection feature is particularly valuable for validating that network connectivity, SQL Server permissions, and authentication settings are all correctly configured.

ScrewDrivers Licenses​

ScrewDrivers Licenses (officially named Tricerat License Server in the application interface) manages your ScrewDrivers licensing configuration. You'll use this application to view license information, change licensing modes, or update license keys.

Note: You can also use the options available on the Licensing Configuration tab of the ScrewDrivers Endpoint Session Agent application to change the licensing mode or licensing parameters for ScrewDrivers Endpoint and ScrewDrivers Scanning.

Opening License Server​

You can open Tricerat License Server in two ways: double-click the Tricerat License Server desktop icon, or open the Start menu and under Tricerat, double-click Tricerat License Server.

License Server Window​

The application consists of a single window for managing your ScrewDrivers licenses. The window displays current license status, including the number of licenses in use, total available licenses, and license expiration information. You can view detailed license information, update license keys, and configure license server settings all from this single interface.

The license information displayed includes the licensing mode (concurrent or named user), feature enablement, and license expiration dates. This centralized view helps you monitor license usage and plan for renewals before licenses expire.

When to Use License Server​

You'll use the Tricerat License Server application when you need to view detailed license information, update license keys after purchasing additional licenses or renewals, or troubleshoot licensing issues. The application is particularly useful during license renewal periods when you need to verify current license counts before purchasing renewals.

ScrewDrivers Logs​

ScrewDrivers Logs is a standalone application that assists you, in conjunction with Tricerat support, in determining the root cause of any application or software error. The application comes supplied with presets that you can select to automatically enable established combinations of log files for the efficient investigation and resolution of specific problems. You can also manually enable any combination of log files.

Important: Because Tricerat support primarily uses this information, you shouldn't change any of the default values or use any of the commands on this application unless Tricerat Support instructs you to do so.

Opening ScrewDrivers Logs​

You can open ScrewDrivers Logs in two ways: double-click the ScrewDrivers Logs desktop icon, or open the Start menu and under Tricerat, double-click ScrewDrivers Logs.

Logs Window​

The application consists of a single window for managing your ScrewDrivers log files. With the exception of the default values for logging options, all other options on the window are toggles. When ScrewDrivers Logs first opens, by default, Logging is disabled, and all presets and log file types are available for selection.

The window is organized into several sections: logging presets (pre-configured combinations of log files for common troubleshooting scenarios), individual log file types (for granular control over which logs are collected), and logging options (configuration parameters that affect how logs are captured and stored).

Using ScrewDrivers Logs​

When you first open ScrewDrivers Logs and attempt to enable Logging, a Warning message opens, asking you to confirm that you want to enable diagnostic logging. This warning reminds you that excessive logging can impact system performance and consume disk space. Click Yes to acknowledge the warning and enable Logging.

After enabling Logging, you can either enable one or more presets (which automatically enable the appropriate combination of log files for common troubleshooting scenarios) or manually enable one or more log file types. Tricerat has defined default values for all the logging options for every log file type. You shouldn't edit these options unless Tricerat instructs you to do so.

Collect the log files for the duration that Tricerat specifies. After the log files have been successfully collected, click Zip Log Files. A Zip Log Files message opens, indicating that the zip file has successfully been created and placed on your desktop. By default, the zip is named based on the date and time (24-hour format) that it was created in the following format: Logs_mm-dd-yyyy-hour-minutes-seconds-n.zip.

Send the zip file to support@tricerat.com. Make sure to title the email and detail any appropriate information in the email as per Tricerat's instructions. Include the support ticket number in your email subject line to ensure the logs are properly associated with your support case.

Log File Management​

By default, all log files are stored in C:\ProgramData\Tricerat\Logs. After you collect, zip, and send the log files to Tricerat, you can click Delete Log Files to automatically delete all the files from this directory in a single step. You can also manually delete one or more log files from the directory if necessary.

Regular log file cleanup helps maintain disk space, especially if you've been running diagnostic logging for extended periods. However, make sure you've sent the log files to support before deleting them—once deleted, you'll need to recreate the problem and capture new logs if additional information is needed.

ScrewDrivers Print Server​

ScrewDrivers Print Server manages your print server printers directly from a dedicated utility. This application provides a streamlined interface for enabling or disabling print server printers, viewing print server settings, managing the Print Server service, and configuring diagnostic logging.

Opening Print Server​

You can open ScrewDrivers Print Server in two ways: double-click the ScrewDrivers Print Server desktop icon, or open the Start menu and under Tricerat, double-click ScrewDrivers Print Server. The Printers tab is the open tab when the application launches.

The ScrewDrivers Print Server interface uses a tabbed layout. When the application first opens, the Tab bar is collapsed. You can hold your cursor over an icon on the Tab bar to display a tooltip that shows the name of the corresponding tab, or you can click the Hamburger icon to expand the Tab bar and view the complete name of each tab.

The application includes five tabs: Printers (for managing which print server printers are available), Settings (for viewing print server configuration), Services (for managing the Print Server service), Logging (for diagnostic logging configuration), and About (for version information and documentation links).

Printers Tab​

The Printers tab displays all the printers that have been discovered on a print server. You use the options on this tab to enable or disable print server printers, and therefore, limit the number of print server printers that are reported to ScrewDrivers Administration. After you enable or disable a print server printer, you must click Apply to save the changes.

To search for a specific printer or printers, enter a search string in the filter field displayed at the top of the tab. The search results are limited to the exact order of the characters in the string, but the string isn't case-sensitive, and the search string can appear anywhere in the search results. As you enter the search string, the list of matching search results is dynamically updated.

For example, if you enter a search string of "PDF," search results could include any printer name containing those characters in sequence, such as "Adobe PDF Printer" or "Microsoft Print to PDF."

Settings Tab​

The Settings tab displays general information about the given print server, such as its connection port, authentication port, connection limit, query timeout, buffer size, and wait to spool duration. These settings control how the Print Server communicates with clients and manages print jobs.

The available settings include: Server Connection Port (the port used for non-authenticated connections when querying printers), Authentication Connection Port (the port used for user-authenticated connections when printing), Connection Limit (the maximum number of simultaneous connections allowed—if this number is exceeded, the connection is denied), Query Timeout in seconds (the timeout for printer queries), Buffer Size in bytes (the buffer size allocated for each socket connection), and Wait to Spool in seconds (a possible time delay before a document starts printing).

You'd typically only modify these settings during initial configuration or when troubleshooting specific performance or connectivity issues. The default values work well for most deployments.

Services Tab​

The Services tab displays the current status for the ScrewDrivers Print Server service, such as Running. The tab also provides options for starting, stopping, or restarting the service. You'll use this tab when you need to restart the Print Server service after configuration changes or when troubleshooting service-related issues.

Starting, stopping, or restarting the service affects all users currently connected to the Print Server. In production environments, you should schedule service restarts during maintenance windows to minimize user impact.

Logging Tab​

The Logging tab provides options for diagnostic logging from a print server. This logging information is used for debugging or problem tracking purposes. Because Tricerat support primarily uses this information, you shouldn't change any of the default values or use any of the commands on this tab unless Tricerat Support instructs you to do so.

The logging options mirror those available in the ScrewDrivers Logs application but are specific to the Print Server component. You'd enable Print Server logging when working with support to troubleshoot print server-specific issues such as connection problems, authentication failures, or print job delivery problems.

About Tab​

The About tab displays version information about the ScrewDrivers Print Server application. The tab also displays a Help link for documentation and support. You'll reference this tab when you need to verify which version of Print Server is installed, check for version compatibility with other ScrewDrivers components, or access support resources.

The version information displayed includes the full version number and build number, which support will need when helping you troubleshoot issues. Always have this information ready when contacting support about Print Server problems.

When to Use Supporting Applications​

Understanding when to use each supporting application is as important as knowing what each application does. Here's a quick reference for common scenarios:

During Initial Deployment: Use ScrewDrivers Database Connection to configure your database connection, ScrewDrivers Connector to set up proxy settings if needed, and ScrewDrivers Licenses to verify your license configuration. Use ScrewDrivers Print Server to enable the specific printers you want to make available.

During Day-to-Day Operations: You'll rarely need the supporting applications in normal operations. Most configuration tasks are handled through ScrewDrivers Administration. The exception is ScrewDrivers Print Server, which you might use periodically to enable or disable printers as your print infrastructure changes.

During Troubleshooting: Use ScrewDrivers Logs when working with support to diagnose problems. Use ScrewDrivers Print Server's Services tab when you need to restart the Print Server service. Use ScrewDrivers Database Connection to test database connectivity if you're experiencing database-related issues.

During Infrastructure Changes: Use ScrewDrivers Database Connection when migrating databases or changing SQL Server instances. Use ScrewDrivers Connector when modifying proxy configurations. Use ScrewDrivers Licenses when updating license keys or changing licensing modes.

  • How-To Guide: See the installation and configuration guides for detailed procedures using these supporting applications
  • Explanation: See the architecture overview for conceptual information about how these utilities fit into the overall ScrewDrivers architecture
  • Troubleshooting: See the troubleshooting section for specific diagnostic procedures using these tools