Shutdown/Lockout

ERROR: Variable (ShutdownService) is undefined. Users will receive three messages before a shutdown happens. You can define when the messages are displayed so users have time to save their work. For example, the first message can be scheduled to be displayed 1 hour beforehand, the second message 30 minutes beforehand and the final message 5 minutes beforehand. Messages are not sent for lockouts because they only affect users who are already logged in to Opera.

Shutdowns or lockouts are likely to be scheduled so that essential maintenance, like upgrading the Opera 3 programs or running the Backup commands, can be completed by a system administrator. All selected Opera 3 users are affected by the shutdown or lockout event. However, an administrator can use the ADMIN user to log in to Opera 3 so that a maintenance task can be completed but all affected users will be locked out for a defined amount of time. The ADMIN user will be locked out of Opera 3 for between one and two minutes after the shutdown has occurred.

You can schedule shutdowns or lockouts for either users or user groups, or for a company or more than one company. If companies are selected, all users who have access to the companies will be locked out for a prescribed amount of time.

Important: Any unsaved entries that users are working on will be lost when Opera 3 is shut down. Also, if a lengthy process like a Period End command is being run when a shutdown happens, your data may be damaged. You must allow sufficient time for lengthy processes to complete and for users to save their work before the shutdown is scheduled to happen. You can use the Monitor Users form to check which users are still logged in and disable the shutdown if necessary.

If anyone is using a Pegasus product that links to Opera 3, those products will not be shut down. It is advisable to close these products individually before the scheduled shutdown.

Example of a User Group Shutdown

Example of a Company Shutdown

The difference between a shutdown and a lockout.

A shutdown forcibly closes selected Opera 3 users' sessions and prevents them from using the product for a defined period of time. A lockout does not close Opera 3 sessions that are open; it just prevents other users from logging on for a defined period of time.

How do Shutdowns work?

A Notification Service timer program is installed on all Opera 3 client computers by the Opera 3 installer and runs in the background. Each minute the program checks for shutdowns that have been scheduled to be sent using the time on the Opera 3 server for its geographical location. When the timer program finds a shutdown, the respective messages are displayed on the user's desktop either immediately if they are using Opera 3 or when they log in to Opera 3 (as long as the message has not lapsed). The user can then close the message after they have read it and followed any instructions in the message. The shutdown then happens at the time chosen.

In a network environment, it is possible that the time on a workstation computer is different to the time on the Opera 3 server. As the timer program uses the time for the geographical location on the Opera 3 server rather than the time on the client computer, if they are set to a different time it may look like message alerts are displayed at the wrong time. For example, if the server is located in Amsterdam (GMT +2 hours) and the client computers are located in the United Kingdom (GMT), the alerts will use the GMT +2 time.

General tab

Distribution tab

This tab displays the users, user groups or companies that have been selected for the shutdown. Shutdowns can be scheduled for either users or user groups, or for a company or more than one company. If companies are selected, all users who have access to the companies will be locked out for a prescribed amount of time.

Box	Description
Title	This is displayed on the message alert that is shown on each selected users desktop to warn that a shutdown event is planned. Further text can be entered in the Message box if required and viewed by the user.
Type	The type of event: A shutdown will automatically close Opera at the selected time for the affected users and prevent them from logging in until the Lock out for time has passed. A lockout will prevent the affected users from logging on to Opera until the Lock out for time has passed; users who are already using Opera are unaffected.
Date	The date the message will be sent. If the shutdown event is scheduled to happen more than once, this is the first date the shutdown event will happen. The other dates are set up in the Frequency boxes.
Time	The time the shutdown event will happen on the selected date. If the shutdown event is set up to happen more than once, this is the time the shutdown event will happen on all chosen days.
Active	This box is selected automatically when a new message is created. Active messages will be sent to users at the selected time/s in the boxes under Frequency. If the shutdown is defined to happen only once, the box is unticked after the Lock out for period is lapsed. For example, if users are locked out for two hours, this box is unticked two hours are the shutdown. If this box is cleared the shutdown will not happen.
Frequency	Shutdown events can be scheduled to happen once at a chosen time or many times over chosen days. You can select the following frequencies: Once - the shutdown will happen once Daily - the shutdown will be repeated every x days (for example, every day or every 4 days) Weekly - the shutdown will be repeated every x weeks (for example, every 2 weeks) Monthly (Dates) - repeated every month on a specific date (for example, the 27th day of every month) Monthly (Days) - repeated every month on a specified week and day example, every second week on a Monday).
Lock out for	After a shutdown event you may want to prevent anyone from using Opera 3 for a certain amount of time. For example, if the reason for the shutdown is to back up your data, you will not want users logging in to Opera 3 whilst that is happening. You need to use your understanding of the time needed to complete the activity to decide how long to lock people out for. If anyone tries to log in to Opera 3 during the lock out period, they will be prevented from doing so. A message will tell them when they will be able to log in again.
Show ... before	The first of three messages that is sent to warn users can be displayed for a chosen time before a scheduled shutdown. For example, you may want to display the message two hours beforehand so that your users have plenty of time to complete their work in advance of the shutdown. If a user logs in to Opera 3 during the two hours, a message informs them of the impending shutdown. This applies only to Shutdowns. Three messages are displayed on each selected user's desktop before the shutdown event happens. The amount of time before the shutdown that Opera 3 displays the second and third messages are defined on the System - Utilities - System Preferences form.
Message	This is optional text that can be displayed along with the message title. The first line of this message is displayed on the main message form, the remainder of the message is displayed on another form that is linked to the main message.
Applies to	This lists the additional systems that have been set up in Opera 3. These allow up to 36 further companies to be set up in each system. You can select to show a message in all systems, only the main system or only a selected additional system. This box is only displayed if you use Additional Systems.