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BookingBuilder on a Terminal Server / Citrix Environment

Updated

Note: the screens you see in this article might not match your BookingBuilder exactly, but don't worry about that- the differences are just cosmetic and the directions will still work.

BookingBuilder on a Terminal Server

There are a few things to consider when planning to deploy BookingBuilder on a Terminal Server or Citrix environment.  Aside from it being a best practice to switch into Install Mode, the basic installation process is the same as it is for a PC / Laptop, but there are other things to consider.  

Architecture

BookingBuilder interfaces with a number of GDS systems: Amadeus, Apollo/Galileo/Smartpoint/Travelport +, Sabre and Worldspan.  It uses various network technologies to do so, but the communication is local and restricted to the user session.  What this means is that the GDS and BookingBuilder must both be running in the same user session.  The BBComm.exe process will run one instance for every user, but the rest of BookingBuilder's processes run for each individual user.

Groups 

BookingBuilder's behavior can vary dramatically depending on the settings: which features are active, what specific information is entered into websites and GDS systems, etc. 

The settings are controlled on the BookingBuilder Group level.  A given BookingBuilder account can have any number of Groups, and each computer will be in one of them.  

Computers vs Usernames

By default, BookingBuilder keeps track of Group membership by hardware- it generates a unique Computer ID when it first runs and contacts our server, and saves that to the Registry.  That Computer ID can be used to move the computer to a different Group, or activate or inactivate BookingBuilder.

This hardware centric approach is the default because it predates Terminal Servers.  When those came into the picture, we added an option to use Usernames instead.  This allows a server to have users in different Groups (rather than every user being stuck in whichever Group the server is assigned to).  

Creating a Server Group

The server computer must still be in a Group itself.  It has proven a best practice to use that particular Group as a 'holding area' for the server.  The Group is generally set with minimal features, and often a Genie popup to inform any users who have found themselves in the Group to contact an admin (so they can be put in the appropriate Group).

To create the server Group:

  1. Sign into the  administration site.

  2. Click on New Group. 

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  3. Enter the Group name.

  4. In the Copy From drop down, select an existing Group to base this one on.  We'll double check the settings below, so it doesn't matter much which one you pick.

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  5. Click Add New Group.

  6. You will be back at the home screen.  Find your new server Group on the right and click the name to go to the settings for the Group.

  7. Click the BookingBuilder Options link.

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  8. Un-check all the check boxes except for Use UserName for Registration, which should be filled in. 

    You can also fill in the Require Manual UserName check box if you want to manually create usernames instead of using the Windows usernames, but this is very rarely needed- it might be worth discussing with BookingBuilder Support before choosing this one.  

    The Ask for UserName Text can also be used- this can include instructions to the user to contact someone to get moved to the appropriate Group (since we're turning off the features for the Server Group).

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  9. Click the Save button on the lower left of the page.

Configuring Usernames

To get this set up for Usernames, your BookingBuilder admin can sign in to our administration site and follow these steps, or send us the information and we will be glad to do it.

  1. Click on the Group on the right side that you want to configure.

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  2. Click on BookingBuilder Options

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  3. Scroll to find the User Name section.

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  4. Fill in the Use UserName for Registration checkbox.  This will enable the feature for the Group, although we do still need to get the usernames added.  Any Group users might be transitioned to, as well as the Server's Group (if it has its own) must have this enabled. 

    Note that this does not prevent Computer ID based registrations in a Group.  Users who don't appear on the list of usernames (below) simply stay in the Group their Computer ID is registered to, and can be moved from Group to Group using that instead of the username.

  5. Click the Save button at the bottom of the page.

  6. Back on the Group page, click on Edit Usernames Assigned to this Group.

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  7. You will see a list containing any usernames already added.  The text boxes in the header can be used to filter the list if needed.

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  8. Click the Add New User button. 

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  9. Enter the username in the User Name field.  

    Note that usernames are unique within a BookingBuilder account (but not globally unique), and you will be blocked if you try to add one that already exists.  In that case, find the Group they are currently in.  Getting the user to right click the BB icon in their system tray and choose About is one way, or you can click through the Groups to find it.  Once you do, since it already exists, use the Move to Group option to get them to the right Group.

  10. Click Update.

Restricting Access

BookingBuilder is programmed to start automatically at sign on.  If not all server users need the software, it may be necessary to restrict which users it starts for.  The usernames entered above don't control that, but only Group membership.

It is recommended to use a Windows Group policy to make sure that BBStart.exe and LMGDSInt.EXE are whitelisted or blacklisted from user startup items as appropriate.  If this is an option, it is the recommended practice.  Otherwise it can of course be restricted at the user level in Startup Items.

Additional Settings

These settings allow you to control behaviors that can affect performance.  Each relevant setting will be explained below.  Some of them are accessible in BookingBuilder's interface, and setting one there will write or change a registry value in the user's HKCU hive, but the important part is...

Those registry values can also be created by whatever method is preferred, in either HKCU\Software\Launchmagic (which affects the current user only of course) or in an equivalent key in  HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\LaunchMagic\ to affect all BookingBuilder users on a server.  The paths are parallel starting with 'LaunchMagic'.  For example:

HKCU\Software\Launchmagic\BBDesktop\Settings\Communications  HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\LaunchMagic\BBDesktop\Settings\Communications

Note this means that if a key itself is missing, you may have to create it as well before the value can be added.

If you do want to access these settings using the software, right click the BB icon in the system tray and choose Configuration, then use the Advanced button.

Items can be selected and values set here.

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Backups

BookingBuilder normally saves compressed versions of its update files in AppData\Roaming\BookingBuilder\Data\BBUpdater, in order to save on time and bandwidth if the user's local app data does not persist across sessions. 

If AppData\Local\BookingBuilder does persist, we can save some hard drive activity since the backups are not  needed.  Either HKCU\Software\LaunchMagic\BBDesktop\Settings  HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\LaunchMagic\BBDesktop\Settings gets a DWORD value called BackupFiles with value set to 0.

Cache

We can save some hard drive space by making BookingBuilder share a cache folder across users. HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\LaunchMagic\BBDesktop\Settings gets a string value named ShareFileLocation, that lets us add a path for sharing the cache instead of all the users having their own. The data is simply the path to the cache, like E:\BBCache. 

Logging

We can also look at the logging level. We can create HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\LaunchMagic\BBDesktop\Settings, which gets a string value named LoggingLevel, that uses None, Minimal, Normal or Verbose as the data- we would want it to be set to None. The down side is of course if we ever do need logging turned on, HKLM over-rides HKCU so we would need to remember we did this, and then remove that key first.

Similarly, we can set that logging level for BookingBuilder Genie, as HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\LaunchMagic\BBGenie\Settings also uses None, Minimal, Normal or Verbose. We almost never need to turn this logging up.

BookingBuilder Boost also has the same logging options, in HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\LaunchMagic\SupplierPreferencing\Settings .

 

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