ACLS Tracker User Guide

For ACLS Tracker v0.10 Authored by Dylan Zhang & Dongming Zheng

About

ACLS Tracker is a cross-platform desktop app (end-point software). The tracker is to record user’s usage of the instruments, to restrict instrument access, to alert any OHS related issues in lab to the lab staff through the email, to show the next booking on the current day booking calendar, to show trainer contacts, to provide QR code for mobile device to scan and check lab resources, and also poster feature for branding and lab announcements.

The tracker supports Windows XP/7/8/10/11 and Linux (contact us for linux version details).

Through the tracker, you can implement a secured access to instrument or equipment by “No Login, No Operation” policy.

Before user can operate the instrument or equipment, he needs to login through the tracker. The tracker checks if user has a valid account, if user has the valid certificate to operate the equipment by himself or require the supervision of the staff member before permitting. During the period of operation or experiment, user can record the experimental notes, see the next booking to better manage his time of operation, and receive the notification sent by staff.

Tracker integrates the sensor app which details are provided in the separate sensor app user guide.

The other feature that tracker could be used is to log off Windows account when users log off tracker, which could used as a handy feature for some special situations as a security measure.

ACLS Sensor

ACLS Sensor is an application that gathers system information about your lab resource. The resulting report is automatically uploaded to ACLS. Examples of the gathered information include: operating system, CPU info, memory, disk usage, installed software.

ACLS Sensor can be downloaded as a standalone application that you can run on any computer.

Additionally, ACLS Sensor comes pre-installed with ACLS Tracker. The ACLS Tracker can be used to automatically run ACLS Sensor on regular intervals.

ACLS Tracker: Installation (Windows XP/7/8/10/11)

ACLS tracker can be downloaded with the dedicated download link in ACLS. You can find it by navigating to Utility Manager > Resource Tracker & Sensor Manager.

  1. Upon download, unzip the package, copy ACLSTracker to System Drive C. The new python tracker does not require installation, it simply double click and run.
  2. Create a shortcut to the desktop.
  3. Set up ACLS tracker as the startup program app.
    • Press START + R to open the Windows Run window.
    • Type in “shell:startup” and press OK.
    • Copy the desktop shortcut and paste it in this folder. This will make the computer run ACLS Tracker automatically every time it turns on.
  4. For the first time run, tracker brings up the resource selection page, simply select and save the selection, and close the tracker. If the resource is not listed, you need to go to ACLS web portal to check the resource tracker settings as described in the Tracker Configuration chapter.

ACLS Tracker: Updating to the latest version

  1. Locate the existing ACLS Tracker installation. This is usually inside the C drive, in a folder called ACLSTracker.
  2. Open the folder and locate the file “config.ini”. Identify the field named “hostid" and copy out the value.
  3. Delete the “ACLSTracker” folder.
  4. Download the latest version of ACLS tracker. It can be downloaded with the dedicated download link in ACLS.
  5. Unzip the downloaded file and copy the ACLSTracker folder to System Drive C.
  6. Go into the folder and locate the config.ini file. Fill in the empty value with the previously saved value.
  7. Ensure the desktop shortcut for ACLS Tracker is still working. If it no longer works, you should recreate the shortcut.
  8. Ensure the run-on-startup for ACLS Tracker is still working.

Tracker Operation

Login process

Upon executing the tracker program, the home page shows up as indicated.

  • Reload tracker: click Reload tracker button to refresh the home login page if you encounter any issues.

  • COVID-19 Poster: this is the default setting in ACLS resource manager. It can be customised by lab to set up different posters.

  • QR code: use mobile phone to scan QR code and access to resource dashboard.

  • Trainer: show the trainer contacts.

  • About: app name and version.

  • Lab name: ACLS Demo in the snapshot.

  • Resource name: 3D camera in the snapshot.

  • Last login: show last login user name, school or organisation name and login day timestamp.

  • Enter User ID and Password to sign in.

  • Depending on the tracker settings in ACLS resource manager, you might need to select account or project to continue.

Upon accepting the login, Tracker stays at the top corner of the right-hand side of the screen. Tracker shows the elapsed time at the tracking app bar.

Logout timer (optional)

A logout timer can be activated to logout the tracker automatically when the timer runs out of the pre-set hours.

  • Select the desired hours, and click ‘Start Timer’ to begin the countdown. Tracker logs out user automatically when countdown ends.
  • To stop timer, simply click on ‘Stop Timer’.

Lock screen (optional)

Lock-screen feature is available as an option. The lock screen is useful for staff and users to lock the screen while they are away for lunch break or any other short break.

  • Click Lock Screen to get the screen locked. The entire screen becomes semi-transparent in lock-screen mode.

Record Notes

You can record and submit notes during an experiment by clicking the ‘Note’ button.

  • Enter your experiment notes in the textbox provided, and click ‘Submit’ to save the notes.

The user can make simple notes by clicking the ‘Submit Notes’ button. Once the submit button is clicked the note will be submitted to the server, saved, and available in ACLS web tracker notes.

Logging Out

Once you are finished using the instrument, click the ‘Logout’ button to terminate the session.

Tracker Configuration in ACLS Web Portal

This is for lab admin or system administrator to set up. Login to ACLS, go to Utility Manager > Resource Tracker & Sensor Manager > Installed Resource Tracker Status to edit the resource property.

The obsolete Java tracker is still on the page for information. The new tracker is configured with the Python tracker page. Here is the explanation of the configuration parameters.

  • Resource: instrument or equipment name.
  • Host ID: it is auto-generated by system used for tracker connection, you can reset the ID if needed. If the tracker is already connected, ID reset will disconnect the tracker.
  • ID Type: fixed and not changeable.
  • Block hotkeys: block all the hotkey combinations to stop users from bypassing the tracker login.
  • Block task manager: tick to block task manager on Windows PC when running Tracker on PC admin account.
  • Enable account/project selection: tick to enable account/project selection if you simply use the tracker to record instrument/equipment access, or/and safeguard the access.
  • Enable locking-screen: tick to enable locking screen feature.
  • Enable Show Last Login User: tick to display the last logged in user on the tracker login page.
  • Enable auto-logout: tick to enable auto-logout.
  • Enable Full-Screen Mode: Option is enabled by default to prevent users from bypassing the tracker.
  • Enable booking first policy: Tick to deny login if the user doesn’t have a booking.
  • Enable data drive mapping: Tick to enable automatic network drive mapping on the resource computer.
  • Enable email for sign in and sign out: Tick to send an email to the user and trainers when they sign in and sign out.
  • Enable sensor app execution with tracker: Tick to enable ACLS Sensor functionality.

ACLS Tracker Installation Status

You are able to check tracker status including installation status, connection status, and IP address of the connected equipment/devices and tracker version.

ACLS Tracker Server

ACLS tracker server requires special configuration with Abyss Web Server X2. ACLS tracker is web-based and https connection on the separate port.

Automatically Mapping Network Drive

To enable this setting, tick “enable data drive mapping” on the resource configuration page. Configuration for this network drive is in ACLS System Settings. Navigate to Staff > System Settings.

When the tracker logs in, this network drive will be automatically mapped. When the tracker logs out, the network drive is unmapped.

Automatically setting up user folders with ACLS Tracker

ACLS Tracker can automatically create folders for each user that logs onto the lab computer. The user can store their files in the folder designated for them.

To enable folder creation:

  1. Log into ACLS.
  2. Navigate to Staff, then System Settings, then “User Data Folder Setting (Tracker)”.
  3. Tick “Create user folder” and press save.
  4. Set up a default directory for the user folders to reside in, and select a naming format for the user folder.
  5. Save the changes to accept the creation of user folders.

Disable Task Manager for Windows 7 and Windows 10

The tracker needs administrator rights to disable the task manager on Windows 7 and Windows 10. Instead, you can manually disable it by following these instructions.

  1. Press WINDOWS key and R (WIN+R) to open the Run window.
  2. Type in regedit.exe and press OK.
  3. Expand the folder named ‘HKEY_CURRENT_USER’ and navigate to ‘Software/Microsoft/Windows/CurrentVersion/Policies/System’.
  4. Change the value of ‘DisableTaskMgr’ from 0 to 1 to disable task manager.

To re-enable task manager, reverse the above steps and change the value data from 1 to 0 instead.

ACLS Tracker for Linux (No sensor feature)

ACLS Tracker is available to run on Linux platforms such as Ubuntu and CentOS. The Linux tracker supports the main ACLS Tracker functionality of logging in and tracking login time but does not support advanced features.

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. Tracker can’t connect to the ACLS tracker server, why?

    • Causes may include loss of network, ACLS server down, or firewall issues.

  2. My antivirus software says the tracker is a virus.

    • This is an uncommon false positive on some machines; you may need to add aclstracker.exe to an exception list.

  3. The Task Manager isn’t disabled even though I chose that option.

    • Refer to the section on disabling Task Manager.