Q: How do I setup my CNS DeskNow server?  (CNS DeskNow setup instructions)

Please contact us if you need assistance in setting up your DeskNow server.  We are here to help you.

You will receive an email confirmation that your server has started shortly after ordering your Desk Now server online. There remain a few more steps to configure your server and begin utilizing it.  Please read this entire document before beginning and let us know right away if you have any problems.

You should have someone in your organization whose day to day responsibilities includes management of your DeskNow server. This person should be familiar with DNS records and email theory. They will also logon under the ‘admin’ account and add new users as required and take care of administrative tasks as they come up. We recommend you download the Desk Now administrator's guide from the left hand margin of our support page.

In order to setup the DeskNow server, you need to logon to the remote desktop of the virtual server. You created an Administrator password when the account was setup. Please open a trouble ticket and request a password reset if you do not know the Administrator password.

The DeskNow server will begin installing on first logon. If for some reason it errors out, try logging off and back on. If that still does not work then run the desknowinstall.bat program located in c:\ (be sure and try logging off and back on first! - VERY important!)

On initial install, it is very important that you accept any default prompts - do not change anything. First the clam antivirus will install and then begin downloading new a/v definitions. The DeskNow server will install next. Here you will be prompted a few times. Click to accept any defaults. DO NOT CHANGE ANYTHING!

The setup process adds a scheduled task ‘antivirus database update’. The administrative password needs to be setup on this task. Click control panel->scheduled tasks->antivirus database update (right click). Select ‘properties’ and then ‘set password’. Enter the Administrator password so the daily database update will run.

You are ready to log off the remote desktop and logon to the Desk Now administrative console. Start->log off

To logon to the desknow server, point your browser to http://(the host name you assigned)

The default logon is admin / password  PLEASE CHANGE THIS DEFAULT ADMIN PASSWORD!

From here, you will need to setup a new virtual domain. Please refer to Section 3 of the Desk Now Administrator’s guide for further details.  You can download the DeskNow Administrator's Guide from the lower left hand margin of our support page.

Please open a support ticket by clicking on the life ring at the top of your control panel if you require further assistance. We are here to help you.

NOTE:

DeskNow likes to use popup windows. Please be sure and disable popup blockers for the desknow site in your email browser.

We recommend submitting your outgoing mail via the SMTP over SSL. This will help to make sure your mail gets through ISP spam filters.

Be sure and setup an appropriate MX record in your DNS zone, so Internet mail will reach your server. We also strongly recommend you setup a SPF record. Your SPF record should contain ‘include:commercialnetworkservices.net’

We recommend using Virtuozzo Power Panels to backup your server.  It's installed by default.  you can reach it from your control panel, or https://(vps host name):8443 (i.e. https://mail.desknowserver.com:8443).  Logon with your administrative Windows password.

Q: How do I setup my CNS DeskNow mail clients?

The server name will depend on the host name given to the server at setup.  You have the option of using standard POP/IMAP and SMTP or you can also use SSL POP, SSL IMAP and SMTP SSL.

POP OR IMAP & SMTP host:  (your DeskNow server host name)

User:  (assigned email address & password)

SMTP authentication required with same logon as POP/IMAP, use port 587 unless using SSL

Alternatively, SSL connections are supported.  The SSL ports are as follows:

POP:  SSL port is 995

or

IMAP SSL port is 993

and

SMTP SSL (authentication is required) port is 465

Q: How do I setup my Outlook SyncML?

First make sure you have subscribed to the correct amount of SyncML seats in your hosting plan.  Please contact Technical Support if you require assistance.   Next, add the eMail account to Outlook (above).  Finally, download the Outlook connector from our support page and install it on the machine.  Enter the following values:

Server name:  CNS DeskNow

Web URL:  https://(your DeskNow server host name)/desknow/sync

Web Access URL:  https://(Your DeskNow server host name)/desknow/index.html

User and password:  (assigned email address and password)

The Outlook connector is responsible for syncing the calendar, tasks, etc..  It does not sync the email messages.  This is by design.  Use IMAP to sync mail messages.

Q: I need additional support. What should I do?

A: Please open a support ticket by clicking on the life ring at the top of your control panel, after you logon from our home page.  We will be happy to assist you!