Toggle menu

Autoconfig

Autoconfig can only be accessed directly on the server that hosts iCM. Most of the options are set when iCM is first installed and are managed by our hosting automation tools or can be accessed directly via iCM Settings. This legacy documentation is here for information only.

Autoconfig holds global and background configuration for iCM. Some of these settings can also be changed using the system configuration section of the iCM management menu. If you have the diagnostics privilege enabled, you can download your current autoconfig settings via Application Settings.

To commit any changes you make in autoconfig, you must navigate through to the final page and click the "Finish" button. Changes are lost if you navigate backwards. For example, changing settings on page 3, returning to page 2, then forwards again to page 3, will reload page 3 without your changes.

In clustered environments autoconfig should be run on every server where iCM is installed so that changes are consistently applied to each.

API Server Configuration

After making changes in autoconfig it is generally worth resending the configuration to your API Servers. Environmental information, like mail servers, is sent to an API Server from the settings in autoconfig as part of sending configuration to the server.

Autoconfig Login

Only one user exists for autoconfig, which is unique, created at the time iCM is installed, and not maintained within iCM.

Once you've successfully logged in, you'll see the autoconfig welcome screen. Each page then has the following properties.

Start

Application nameA unique name for this iCM installation. Automatically set to "website" by iCM versions 10.1.0.5+.
Application typeThe technology your website is using
Serial numberThe unique software serial number, issued by GOSS Interactive, that allows iCM to run
Datasource nameThe name of the iCM datasource. Automatically set to "icm" by iCM versions 10.1.0.5+.
Database typeThe database type. Automatically detected and set by iCM versions 10.1.0.5+.

Website Connection Settings

iCM URLThe full enterprise level URL of iCM (eg http://www.website.co.uk/enterprise/icm). You may include a port number (eg http://www.website.co.uk:85/enterprise/icm)
Direct iCM URLUse this URL to access iCM directly (bypassing the webserver). It should include the port number 5506 (eg http://localhost:5506/icm). This setting is optional
Website URLThis is the full URL of the primary website iCM is managing. You can also include the port number if required (eg http://www.website.co.uk:85). iCM uses this URL to access the website
Website portEnter the HTTP port used to access the website. Normally this is set to port 80. The port number should also be included in the website URL and the object caching URL (Advanced Settings below) if required. iCM uses this port to access the website when previewing articles
Website usernameIf the website is protected by a server username and password you need to enter them in these fields. This is so iCM can pass these parameters through to access the site. If you are using NT security, you may need to include the name of the workgroup in front of the username, like this: workgroup/username
Website password
Confirm password

Website Settings

Cache directoryEnter the absolute directory path where the website cache files will be stored (typically E:\inetpub\[sitename]\content\cache/
Media directoryEnter the absolute directory path where the website media files will be stored (typically E:\inetpub\[sitename]\content\media/
iCM pathSpecify a path that references the iCM root ('icm') directory. This path will be used by the iCM API to access files located within the iCM directories.

Typically this will just be /icm/
Email recipient for website errorsShould iCM encounter any errors when communicating with the site (eg attempting to clear the cache) an error email will be sent to this address
API facade URLAn external application may need to make http requests to the ColdFusion API provided with iCM. Specify the URL of the cfapifacade.cfm file in the <webapp> directory. This is typically http://[servername]:5506/cfapifacade.cfm
Initialisation codeThis section is for adding application variables or other CFML initialisation code that is specific to your particular website installation

General Settings

Retain version historyTo enable iCMs version history for content items, check this box. These settings provide default version policies for articles, end points, forms, links and media items. You can set up additional policies in iCM settings using Version Control Policies
Number of versionsThis is the default minimum number of versions of a content item to keep in the version history. Additional versions will be removed, provided that their removal will not violate the retention requirement below. 
Retention periodThis is the default maximum amount of time to keep a version of a content item in the version history. Versions older than this will be removed, provided that their removal will not violate the number of versions requirement above
Use network authenticationCheck this box to enable network authentication for your iCM users. See the iCM Single Sign-On article for more information
Mail serverThe mailserver that iCM can use
iCM sender email addressThis is the "from" address that iCM will use when it generates an email
Email recipient for task status messagesThis is where iCM will send status and/or error messages generated by the scheduled tasks (for example, when an archiving task cannot be performed for some reason)
Email recipient for support requestsThis is where iCM will send support request emails (from the iCM homepage action)
Email recipient for feedbackThis is where iCM will send feedback emails. Use feedback@gossinteractive.com to send them to GOSS
Email recipient for iCM errorsThis is where iCM will send iCM error notification emails. Use icm.errors.v10@gossinteractive.com to send the emails to GOSS. We don't recommend you change this
Display debug informationControls the display of ColdFusion errors. If checked, users will see information about the error, if not, then the error information is emailed to the Email recipient for iCM errors
SOLR URLsThese are the URLs of the SOLR search instances the site and iCM uses, automatically installed with iCM. The standard URLs are http://localhost:5506/solrsite and http://localhost:5506/solricm
API Server URLThis is the URL used to access iCM's local API Server. The standard value is http://127.0.0.1:5706
Public API Server PathPath of the publicly accessible API Server which will be appended onto the iCM URL. The default is /icm/apiserver
Skeleton Processor worker pathThe default is /skelproc
Forms Service worker pathThe default is /formsservice
File Store worker pathThe default is /filestore
System maintenance countdown emailsThese time periods iCM will use to send out system maintenance emails when iCM is taken offline, typically 30, 20 and 10 minutes. These emails are sent in addition to any defined in the System Online/Offline settings
Custom directory ColdFusion pathSpecify a path that references the iCM 'custom' directory, typically /icm/custom/

This path will be used by ColdFusion to access files located within the iCM custom directory. It will need to make use of a ColdFusion CFIDE Mapping in case the custom modules reside outside of the icm directory. In clustered installations with multiple servers the custom directory should be shared by, and accessible to, all iCM servers
Custom directory file pathThe fully-qualified file system path to the iCM 'custom' directory. Typically E:\iCM10\tomcat\webapps\ROOT\icm/custom/
File manager rootsSpecify directories that contain files you'd like to edit using the iCM file manager. This must be a fully-qualified file system path. Multiple directories may be specified by clicking the add button. Normally this will only include the custom directory file path
User editable file extensionsSpecify the file types that can be edited in the file manager (in addition to the defaults already listed)

iCM Preferences

iCM users category levelSet how iCM users are displayed within the iCM Groups/Users tree
If 'None' is selected, then no categories will be displayed; if 'Initial character' is selected, then the users will be organised into folders taken from the first character of each user's name
Website users category levelSet how the website users are displayed within the Site Groups/Users tree
Stale content warning periodThe number of hours before an article or a media item is due for an update that the owner will be notified. See Content Settings
Stale content escalation delayThe number of hours after an article becomes due for an update that email reminders about updates being required are redirected to the editors/publishers of that article
Default article update dueThe default "Update Due" interval that starts counting down when an article is created or edited
Default media update dueThe default "Update Due" interval that starts counting down when a media item is created or edited
Image resizing JPEG qualityThe quality factor used when automatically generating resized images, specified as a percentage. Set this at 100%
Strip metadata from imagesCheck this box to remove any metadata embedded in image files (by digital cameras or photo editing software) when they are imported into iCM. We recommend this is checked
Preserve top-level articlesCheck this to prevent articles that are at the top level of the article tree from being deleted. This will also prevent top-level articles from being manually created
Maximum article depthThe maximum number of levels of child articles (top level articles counted as 1) that can be created in the article tree
List page lengthHow many lines will appear on pages in iCM that display lists, eg the list of scheduled tasks or items in the security log. This odes not affect the recently modified items list or other lists on the homepage
Article preview modesA comma-delimited list of the default preview modes to be made available to iCM articles. Each preview mode entry within the list should contain the mode name, associated custom module file name, and a short description, each separated by semi-colon eg PDA;pdamode;PDA mode,WEB;webmode;WEB mode. The custom module's file name should not include path or extension information; the /preview path and .cfm extension are assumed. These default modes may be overridden by settings in the iCM Templates section. Note that these defaults will not be used by subsites as these will have their own defaults defined within the iCM Subsites section.

You can leave this blank and preview will work just fine
Users should specify security questionsUncheck this box to disable the warning prompting iCM users to set up security questions if they haven't. See Security Questions and Forgotten Passwords
Article tree sortingThis controls how articles will be ordered in the article tree. Each setting will be used in order, an can be set either as Ascending (in Alphabetical or Numerical order etc), or Descending
Allow manual override of article tree sortingCheck this to allow users to explicitly specify the ordering of articles using the "Ordering" tab in the article editor

Additional Preferences

Generate suggestions using iSuggesterIf this option is checked, suggestions will be generated using iSuggester where possible (reverting to the original suggester if iSuggester has no suggestions)
Train iSuggester using related articlesIf this option is checked, iSuggester will be trained using the related articles of any article that is updated
Train iSuggester using related metadata (for articles, media)If either or both of these options are checked, iSuggester will be trained using the related metadata of any article or media item that is updated
The following settings configure the Directory Cleanup scheduled task which deletes temporary files. The most recently modified files are retained. This may not correspond with the file creation date.
DirectoryEnter a directory path to search for temporary files. Paths must be absolute or relative from the site root. Dotted paths are not permitted. A relative path is indicated by an initial directory name
PatternEnter a file pattern with optional wildcards, * and ?
Minimum FilesCleanup will never reduce the number of selected files below this minimum value
Maximum SizeCleanup will delete older files until the total size is less than this number of bytes or the minimum number of files has been reached
Add Cleanup TaskAdd the task defined in the fields above to the cleanup task table. If a task is being edited then it may be modified and added (instead of saved) to copy it with changes
Save Cleanup TaskIf a task has been edited, this button will save it back to the same row in the table
Cleanup Task TableShows all currently defined cleanup tasks. Tasks may be deleted or edited using the buttons provided

Scheduled Tasks and External Link Proxy

Scheduling lead timeiCM will not allow you to schedule a task to run sooner that now+Scheduling lead time. 15 minutes is recommended
Proxy name/portIf a proxy server is being used, the scheduled task that tests external links will need to know its host name (or IP address) and port number so that it can successfully execute its checks. Please specify both if applicable
Proxy username/passwordIf a proxy server is being used it may require user credentials before it will relay requests. If so, enter a username and password that are accepted by the proxy here

HTML Editor Settings

Word documents can be uploaded into the HTML editor. Images contained in these documents are automatically imported as media items into the iCM Media Library. These settings can be overridden at subsite and template levels.

Media type for imported imagesThe ID of the media type that images in imported Word documents should be created as
Media group for imported imagesThe ID of the media group that images in imported Word documents should be imported into
Import images asWhether images in imported Word documents should be attached to the article as related media or inserted into the article as inline media
Inline type for imported imagesWhen importing images as inline media, specify the ID of the inline type that should be used
Placeholder for imported imagesWhen importing images as related media, specify the text, if any, that should be inserted within the article to mark the original location of the imported images
Link group for imported linksThe link group that will hold any links imported from a document. We recommend creating a dedicated group called "imported links"
WYSIWYG markers inserted byWhen WYSIWYG editing is allowed, iCM needs to know whether it is the template code or the API that should insert the content markers that indicate where editable content occurs within the WYSIWYG Editor. Select the relevant entry from the drop-down list.
StylesheetThe stylesheet to be used by the editor. This should be its path relative to the site's root WEB directory. For example, css/citizen/cseditor.css. Sites using our standard themes and frameworks should use /defaultarticletext.css

Background Task Settings

The gateway task processes the messages used to manage synchronisation between the database, page cache, search engine, and any other servers there may be if your site is running in a clustered environment. See iCM/API Servers for a full description.

The article replacement task is responsible for updating articles when a different version is due to be published.

Site nameicm
Scheduled task nameName of the scheduled task that will perform the Gateway message processing. The default is GatewayTaskicm
Operation modeEither "Normal" or "Debug" (leave it as normal)
Schedule intervalThis is the frequency, in seconds, with which the Gateway message processing task will be executed. Large values will result in delays before new content can be located in searches. Small values will increase the server load. The default is 15
Maximum processing timeThis is the maximum amount of time, in seconds, that the Gateway message processor will be allowed to spend processing messages each time the scheduled task is executed. This cannot exceed 75% of the schedule interval. For most systems a value of around 20% of the schedule interval will be sufficient. the default is 5
Article replacement task 
Scheduled task nameName of the scheduled task that will perform the article replacement. The default is ArticleTaskwebsite
Schedule intervalThis is the frequency, in seconds, with which the article replacement task will be executed. 60 is usually sufficient
Short-cut App Polling 
Poll intervalThis is the interval, in seconds, between attempts to determine the status of each installed App

Advanced Settings

Enable article editor script protectionScript protection should be enabled for the article editor as an additional safe-guard against cross-site scripting attacks. If, however, there is a need to be able to include elements like script or iframe tags embedded within the article editor's 'Show HTML' view then this protection will need disabling
Object caching pagesComma-delimited set of URLs of scripts to be run when iCM Object Types are added or amended. This will vary depending on the technology your site is using. Include the port number where required (eg http://www.website.co.uk:85/cacheadmin.jsp).

This setting is not used in modern sites that use data caching
Form caching pagesComma-delimited set of URLs of scripts to be run when iCM Forms are added or amended. This will vary depending on the technology your site is using.

This setting is not used in modern sites that use data caching
Subsite isolationWhether subsites are isolated or can share content and be edited from the URL of another subsite
Subsite extra configuration formThe name of a private form used by the "Configuration" tab in subsites. This is usually SUBSITEEXTRAS
User profile configuration formThe name of a private form used within iCM to manage user profiles. In our newer sites this is ICMUSERPROFILE, which has FORM_USERPROFILE as its external type
User profile email address elementThe name of a property in a user profile object that holds an email address. This is EMAIL in most sites
User profile preferred username elementThe name of a property in a user profile object that holds a user's preferred name. This is PREFNAME in most sites
Purge completed process instances afterWhen running the "Purge completed processes" scheduled task, closed instances older than this number of days will be deleted
Scheduled task serverWhen the web servers are clustered it is important that only one of the servers in the cluster is used to perform scheduled tasks. This ensures that regardless of which server receives a request to modify a schedule, the requested change will be implemented correctly. In order to do this, each server needs to know which machine will actually run the scheduled tasks so that update requests can be routed appropriately. Enter a comma-delimited list of URLs for the server that will run the scheduled tasks, including the protocol and a port number where required. The URL(s) should point to the website root for the iCM installation and should include all possible aliases for the machine that user's might use. For example, the host name and it's IP address should both be represented if users might use either of these to access iCM in order to set up scheduled tasks, (eg http://www.website.co.uk:85,http://10.11.12.13:85)
iCM user password complexity rulesThe rules iCM users will have to follow when creating or updating passwords. Changes to these rules will force iCM users to change their passwords the next time they log in
Website user password complexity rulesThe rules website users will have to follow when setting their passwords
Cache typeAll of our modern frameworks use Data caching. If you have defined delivery servers in iCM/API Servers select "use delivery servers". Otherwise use the "explicit URLs" option
Cache manager URLsIn a standard installation this will be http://[siteURL]/site/admin/cache/decache. These only need to be set if you select "explicit URLs" above
Cache notify content typesA comma separated list of the content types to decache. The full standard list is:

article,event,externallinks,featuregroup,forum,groups,media,metadatagroup, metadataproperties,metadatavalues,polls,publicformdefinitionex,subsite, subsitealias,templates
Remote web cache passwordThe password that allows iCM access to the remote website cache (if needed)
The optional settings for the iCM webserver Username/Password are required when iCM is protected by a webserver Username and Password. This is so scheduled iCM tasks (housekeeping, mailings, etc) can be run by the webserver. If the website is protected and iCM is not, then these optional settings should be left blank.
iCM Webserver Username and PasswordThe webserver username and password that iCM will use to access the protected directory. If you are using NT security, you may need to include the name of the Workgroup in front of the username, like this: workgroup/username
Lock restricted contentEnabled by default. This prevents the editing of restricted content like the form family. If you uncheck this box because you need to import a form family you should run autoconfig again once you have performed the import to turn the lock back on
iCM file securityProtect iCM files from direct execution. The iCM file security checkbox should only be cleared when specifically instructed by GOSS support. Turning off iCM file security may allow attackers to expose private data by executing some of iCM's internal components
iCM database tidyWhen iCM detects a fresh installation it will recommend that a limited amount of database tidying be performed. A newly specified valid serial number is used to identify a fresh installation, and this option will automatically be selected if this is detected. The tidying will currently deregister iCM servers, clear down all gateway messages, and reset the installation task list, thus safeguarding against the presence of data that is unrelated to the new installation
Last modified on November 29, 2024

Share this page

Facebook icon Twitter icon email icon

Print

print icon