FAQ

Migrating to FIT 7.0

Q: How do I migrate to the new FIT 7.0?

Licensing

Q: How do you define a user?

Q: What happens after the first year?

Q: Can I upgrade?

Custom Enterprise Solution

Q: Custom Enterprise Solution: What is this?

Demo

Q: bindException: Why can't I get going ?

Q: Removing Test Data?

Q: What are the limitations of the demo?

Q: Will I have to re-install if I choose to purchase?

Notification

Q: My email Notification is not working?

Q: Can I change the Character Set for the email notification?

Windows as a Service

Q: How do I run Fast IssueTrack as a Service in NT/XP?

Q: How do I run Fast IssueTrack as a Service in 2000?

Q: How do I start it automatically on a Unix box?

Forward through a Web Server (allows SSL)

Q: How do I forward Apache to Fast IssueTrack?

Q: How do I forward IIS to Fast IssueTrack?

Charting problems

Q: Charts are empty and/or crashing the system?

Q: Charts appear in black and white?

Database Info

Q: What does Fast IssueTrack use as a database?

Q: How do I backup my Database?

Q: How do I move my system to another machine?

Miscellaneous

Q: I cannot see any closed issues?

Q: I am not seeing all of the issues?

Q: Can I restrict who can receive issues?

Q: Can you provide more details about customizing my installation?

Q: Can I do authentication externally, using passwords from somewhere else (such as Active Directory)?

Installing and Running Fast IssueTrack

Q: I've installed Alcea Fast IssueTrack, now what?

Q: I've started running Alcea Fast IssueTrack, now what?

Q: I'm pointing my browser to http://xyz.whatever.com:10000/ and I'm not seeing anything. What's wrong?

Q: I was interrupted configuring my IssueTracker. Now I get prompted for a password?

Q: I can't remember the admin password?

Q: How do I migrate to the new FIT 7.0?

Alcea is pleased to announce the completion of the merging of Fast BugTrack and Alcea Fast IssueTrack, into a single comprehensive tool, called "FIT".

All future upgrades will be in the FIT stream and a full explanation of how to migrate to it and the reasons behind the change are detailed in our FIT | FAQ 7.0

Q: How do you define a user?

Licenses are are currently priced according to how many users will be using the system. 20, 50 and unlimited user licenses are available.
A user is defined as any user that can log into the system and be assigned issues. This is also known as a fixed user (not a concurrent user).
User counts do not include anonymous users (see anonymous features) or multiple users logging in with the same login.

Q: What happens after the first year?

Our product comes with a complete year of free upgrades and support. After the first year, you can still run your server using your existing version. However, you must renew our extended support agreement to continue to upgrade to the latest versions and continue to receive our outstanding support.

Q: Can I upgrade?

If you wish, you may purchase a base system and then choose to upgrade your license at a later time. You will simply be charged the difference between the two packages.

Q: Custom Enterprise Solution: What is this?

The Enterprise solution comes with a Database Admin menu that allows you to define a connection to any JDBC compliant database and store data in the database rather than the regular flat file system. This system is only available as an Unlimited license and is not available as a hosted system. The Enterprise version also comes with a migration tool that allows you to migrate between the two types of systems.

Q: bindException: Why can't I get going?

Fast IssueTrack is set to run by default on port 10000. If you see a bindException message when you try to configure the system for the first time, it is likely that you already have something using this port on your system. You can try to determine what process is using the port by using the following command:
netstat -aon

If you choose to use a different port, you will have to choose one of the following two methods, since Fast IssueTrack uses 10000 by default.

• You can make the following change to your FastIssueTrack.lax file (assuming you want to try 10001 instead) :

  Change:
  lax.command.line.args=$CMD_LINE_ARGUMENTS$
  to:
  lax.command.line.args=-p 10001

  Then try restarting the server and it should let you configure your system like normal. You can now change the port setting to your desired setting in the configuration sequence.

• Alternatively, you can fun the program manually "FastIssueTrack.exe -p port#" if you are comfortable with that.

Q: Removing Test Data?

You can remove your current issues and attachments using the "Remove All Issue Data" option in the Admin->Data Import menu. This will reset the id counters to 0 for both attachements and issues.

Q: What are the limitations of the demo?

The demo product is a fully functional application with the following two exceptions:

• We have limited the demo product to a 25 issue limit. This should allow users to properly evaluate and test the product.
• There is normally an Archive button on the Bulk Update page that moves a issue to the archive state, when it is no longer needed. This has been removed, so that users cannot remove issues to get past the 50 issue limit.
• The demo product cannot be configured to display a company name or logo.

Q: Will I have to re-install if I choose to purchase?

No! We have made the conversion process as painless as possible. If you choose to purchase Fast IssueTrack, then you will be provided with a special key that will instantly override all of the demo limitations. Your existing issues and information will be kept intact and no modifications are necessary.

Q: My email Notification is not working?

a)You will not receive any notification if you assign a issue to yourself. Notification is only performed if the issue is assigned to a different person.

b)Make sure that you have the correct SMTP information configured. If it is not correct, you will see a connection exception in the server console.

Q: Can I change the character set or the email notification?

As an administrator, login, go to the Admin Menu page and click the Server link and you will see a field where you can enter an explicit charset for messages sent by Fast IssueTrack. (Override Charset)

Q: How do I run Fast IssueTrack as a service on Windows NT/XP? (See below for Windows 2000.)

Download invoker. It's a free, distributable command line utility for creating registered services, created by Idetix (www.idetix.com). Steps:

• Download invoker.zip
• Unzip invoker.zip to your C:\winnt\system32 directory. It consists of three files: invoker.exe, invoker_readme.txt, and invoker_license.txt.
• Open a command prompt.
• If FastIssueTrack is running, stop it.
• Execute the following:
  C:\>invoker install FastIssueTrack "FastIssueTrack" "c:\program files\fastissuetrack\fastissuetrack" automatic
• That should be it. By default the service is started.

Q: How do I run Fast IssueTrack as a service on Windows 2000/2003?

There are problems with invoker and Windows 2000. srvany and instsrv are the tools used to run Fast IssueTrack as a service. Steps:

• You will need to get the executables srvany and instserv. These are included on a resource CD for Windows 2000. They can also likely be found on the net at a variety of locations (Windows NT versions will work..). (Do a search on "srvany.zip download".)
• Place srvany.exe in your system32 directory (Likely c:\winnt\system32 or c:\windows\system32).
• Use instsrv to install srvany as your service: instsrv FastIssueTrack c:\winnt\system32\srvany.exe.
• Run regedit and Find: My Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\FastIssueTrack.
• Select "FastIssueTrack" and select "Edit..", "New...", "Key". Name the key "Parameters" (without the quotes).
• Select the Parameters key that you have created, and select "Edit...", "New...", "String Value". The Name should be "Application" (without quotes). Double click the name to open a dialog in which you can enter the value "c:\program files\FastIssueTrack\FastIssueTrack.exe".
• Close regedit.
• Attempt to start your new service from the services control panel.

Q: How do I start it automatically on a Unix box?

###### Startup script for Alcea Fast IssueTrack (FIT)
#
# NOTE: Only start is currently supported
# (ie. stop/reload not yet implemented).
#
# Please email suggestions / improvements to:
#  tracking@alceatech.com
#
# chkconfig: 345 85 15
# To use, as root:
# 1) As root, place in /etc/init.d/fastissuetrack
# 2) chmod 755 /etc/init.d/fastissuetrack
# 3) Update FITPATH, FITUSER, and FITEXE below...
# 4) Test with: fastissuetrack start
# 5a) Add to auto-start on Red Hat with:
#      chkconfig --add fastissuetrack
# 5a) Add to auto-start on Debian with:
#      update-rc.d fastissuetrack defaults
#####

FITUSER="fastissue"; #uid to run FIT as...
FITPATH="/home/fastissue/FastIssueTrack"; # Where FIT is installed...
####
# For InstallNow installation:
####
FITEXE="./FastIssueTrack";
###
# For straight running java...
###
# Java 1.1:
#FITEXE="/usr/lib/jdk1.1/bin/jre -green 
   -classpath \"issueserver.jar:pja.jar:/usr/lib/jdk1.1/lib/classes.zip\" 
   -mx128000000 -D$0 IssueTrack "


startup() {
  su - fastissue -s /bin/sh -c "cd $FITPATH ; nohup $FITEXE > /dev/null 2>&1 &"
}

# Note that the name of daemon running could be FastIssueTrack or java XYZ...
 
case "$1" in
  start)
    echo $"$0 Starting";
    startup
    ;;
  stop)
    echo $"$0 Stop not currently supported";
    ;;
  status)
    echo $"$0 Status not currently supported";
    ;;
  reload|force-reload)
    echo $"$0 Reload not currently supported";
    ;;
  *)
    echo $"Usage: $0 {start}"
    exit 1
esac

Q: How do I forward Apache to Fast IssueTrack?

change "Apache Group->conf->http.conf" :
- uncomment the following two lines :
LoadModule proxy_module modules/mod_proxy.so
LoadModule proxy_http_module modules/mod_proxy_http.so

then add the following lines :
# FastIssueTrack Proxy
ProxyPass /fastissuetrack http://localhost:10000

make sure Fast IssueTrack sURLPREFIX is set to "/fastissuetrack/" (including trailing /)

Q: How do I forward IIS to Fast IssueTrack?

Steps to configure IIS to serve Fast IssueTrack from a subdirectory:
Our example assumes that requests to http://IISHOST/ is the IIS server, and http://IISHOST/test/ will be forwarded to the Fast IssueTrack (Fast IssueTrack) server running on the same machine... IIS and Fast IssueTrack are already installed and running.
Default.asp should be placed in a directory all by itself. We will assume that it is placed in "C:\FITASP"
Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Internet Services Manager
Under "Default Web Site", right-click, choose "New -> Virtual Directory"
A Wizard starts: For Alias, enter "test"
For Directory, we will use the directory that Default.asp is installed: C:\FITASP
Ensure that "Read" and "Run scripts (such as ASP)" are checked.
Finish.
Now we right-click our virtual directory, and choose "Properties"
We choose the Custom Errors tab, and for http errors "404" and "405", choose Message Type: "URL", and in the URL field, enter: "/test/default.asp".
We now have IIS configured correctly - we must finally configure Fast IssueTrack so that it will rewrite it's urls to support this setup...
Connect directly to Fast IssueTrack (not through IIS), and login as an administrator
Choose "Admin Menu", "Customize Strings"
Edit "sURLPREFIX"...
Set it to "/test/" (without the quotes, but with both slashes.
Access to Fast IssueTrack should now be possible either directly, or through IIS.
If you have questions or problems, please contact Fast IssueTrack support: tracking@alceatech.com

Q: Charts are empty and/or crashing the system?

The charting software requires a graphics context to generate charts.

Solution 1:
By default, FIT is shipped with JVM 1.18, which is usually sufficient. FIT uses the JRE that is set on the following line of the FastIssueTrack.lax file :
lax.nl.current.vm=jre\\bin\\jre.exe
After you install a new JVM, or find one on your system, you can change it to something like:
lax.nl.current.vm=C:\\Program Files\\Java\\jre1.5.0_06\\bin\\java.exe

Java 1.5 provides a new headless feature. Make sure that there are no conflicting references to the Pure Java Alternative (PJA), outlined above.
You may also need to "unset DISPLAY", if it is a problem.

Solution 2 (using old JVM):
If you are running from a console window, you can use the Pure Java Application library and instructions below:

PJA instructions:
Download pja from:
http://www.eteks.com/pja/en/#Download

Place pja.jar (included in the package) in the FastIssueTrack directory...

Edit the FastIssueTrack.lax file...

• Add pja.jar to the classpath :
  lax.class.path=issueserver.jar:lax.jar:pja.jar
• Add the following line to the end of the file :
  awt.toolkit=com.eteks.awt.PJAToolkit

Use the PJAFontCapture tool on a Windows machine to capture a specific font (This will generate a file like "Arial.pjaf" - place this file in the FastIssueTrack directory...

JVM 1.3.1+ requires additional attributes:
lax.nl.java.option.additional=-Xbootclasspath/a:pja.jar -Dawt.toolkit=com.eteks. awt.PJAToolkit -Djava.awt.graphicsenv=com.eteks.java2d.PJAGraphicsEnvironment -D java.awt.fonts=/usr/lib/j2se/1.3/jre/lib/fonts -Duser.home=.
Note: -Djava.awt.fonts need to be updated to the appropriate directory depending on where java is installed

Manual startup:
java -Xms128M -Xmx256M -Xbootclasspath/a:pja.jar -Dawt.toolkit=com.eteks.awt.PJAToolkit -Djava2d.font.usePlatformFont=false -Djava.awt.graphicsenv=com.eteks.java2d.PJAGraphicsEnvironment -Djava.awt.fonts=/usr/java/jre/lib/fonts -Duser.home=/u01/pja_2.5 -classpath /u01/pja_2.5/lib/pjatools.jar -cp issueserver.jar:pja.jar IssueTrack -p 10009 &

Q: Charts appear in black and white (or only 4 colors)?

Solution 1 :
We use a third party graphing utility that seems to have some problems creating charts on some Windows systems using a 32 bit color resolution. The only solution for this problem has been to reduce the color resolution for the server so that it creates valid charts for the end users.

Solution 2 :
On some systems, switching to a JRE 1.5+ may solve the problem. See details in previous question.

Q: What does Fast IssueTrack use as a database?

A general Fast IssueTrack system uses an internal file-based system for storing issues. The server has been custom built to cache the appropriate information within each issue. It is extremely efficient, handles concurrent users easily, and will scale to tens of thousands of issues. Our stress testing machine is an old P-100 with 64Megs of RAM running Linux. There is no performance degradation with over 30,000 issues within the database. An export function is available to export the data within Fast IssueTrack to a comma separated file, that can then be read into Excel or other tools.

A Custom Enterprise Solution can be tailored to work with any JDBC database. This work involves customizations that are specific to customer needs.

Q: How do I back up my issue database?

Enterprise solutions require customized procedures.

For general flat file systems :

Windows:

All of the datafiles created by Fast IssueTrack are created in the program directory. On a Windows system, the default is "c:\program files\fastissuetrack". You may have installed Fast IssueTrack in a different directory - If you're not sure you can look for "issueserver.jar". Backing up the entire contents of this directory is the simplest and more straightforward way to ensure that your issue database is backed up. Zip the entire directory on a regular basis to ensure that you never lose any data.

Unix (Linux/Solaris/Other):

On a Unix system, the default location is "/usr/local/FastIssueTrack". You may have installed Fast IssueTrack in a different directory - If you're not sure you can look for "issueserver.jar". Tarring and gzip'ing the contents of this directory on a regular basis will ensure that you never lose any data.

Q: How do I move my system to another machine?

The backup utility allows an administrator to create a backup directory of their current system. This process should be done consistently in case any problems arise such as machine failure. The backup directory that is created should always be copied and stored on a separate machine.

Two types of backups can be created. A complete backup of all files on the system will copy all the executables and installation files. A backup of all data files is all that is needed because they can be copied over a fresh installation. This option is also very common for moving a system to a new machine.

The System file backup can be copied over a fresh system. To move your system to another machine (or bring it to a saved state), simply install a fresh system and then copy the system file backup over that fresh installation.

Q: I cannot see any "Closed" issues?

The default setting is to hide all closed issues. You will notice a red link just under the logo image that states "Closed Hidden". If you click on this link, the text will change to "Closed Displayed" and you will be able to see all the Closed issues in the system.

Q: I am not seeing all of the issues?

A common mistake is to create groups and not properly list all of the projects that should be seen by the members of that group. Sometimes projects are added at a later time and not propogated to the group setup.

Q: Can I restrict who can receive issues?

yes, the group feature allows you to create groups. In addition, you can make the members of that group invisible to oneanother. Therfore, you are able to create a group of users that cannot see each other. All these users can see is the system users that are not members of this group.

Q: Can you provide more details about customizing my installation?

Yes! Check out our customization section.

If you have any questions about this process, please email: tracking@alceatech.com for further details.

Q: Can I do authentication externally, using password from somewhere else (such as Active Directory)?

Yes! One caveat is that users must still have a "profile" (you must have created them as a user in Fast IssueTrack), as we store additional info about the user...
1) Code & Compile your authentication class...
2) Edit server.cfg adding:
authenticationClass=example.CustomAuthentication
(where example.CustomAuthentication is your own class...)
3) Edit your FastIssueTrack.lax file:
Ensure that the location of your class is in the classpath

Start Fast IssueTrack and you should be all set. Here is the example code:

package example;
public class CustomAuth {
public static boolean authenticate(String name, String password) {
System.err.println("Got: " + name + " " + password);
return(true);

Q: I've installed Alcea Fast IssueTrack, now what?

Start running it. This will depend on the system that you've installed it on. On a Windows system, you'll likely choose "Start...", "Programs...", "Alcea Fast IssueTrack". On a Unix system, you'll execute FastIssueTrack.sh. Remember that Fast IssueTrack is a Web Server, and that the only GUI interface is through a web browser. See the next question for more details.

Q: I've started running Alcea FastIssueTrack, now what?

Now you want to point your web browser at the appropriate location. When Fast IssueTrack starts up, it displays some suggested url's to try. It's important to include "http://" at the start of the url, as Fast IssueTrack runs on a non-standard port.

Q: I'm pointing my browser to http://xyz.whatever.com:10000/ and I'm not seeing anything. What's wrong?

A couple of possibilities:

• Fast IssueTrack is not running. If you're on a Windows system, it should appear on your toolbar. Unix users can use "ps -aef | grep Fast" to see if Fast IssueTrack is running. If this is the case, start it up and attempt to reconnect.
• You're not going to the correct url. Check that you haven't made a typo. Check that you've got "http://" at the start of the url in the browser. Check that you've got the correct port (defaults to 10000). If you're trying to connect from the same computer that is running Fast IssueTrack, try "http://localhost:10000/". If you're trying to connect from a different computer, try using the IP address displayed by Fast IssueTrack when it starts. Check with a network administrator if you're still having problems.

Q: I was interrupted configuring my IssueTracker. Now I get prompted for a password when I want to configure my server. What should I do?

The first step of the installation process creates a file called "server.cfg". If Fast IssueTrack finds this file when it is started, it will not run in configuration mode. Delete this file, restart Fast IssueTrack, and you will be back in configuration mode. This file can be found in "c:\program files\fastissuetrack\" on a Windows system.

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