LinkManager™
Startup and Connection Trouble Shooting Guide

This manual describes measures to trouble shoot and fix issues for starting theLinkManager application, or to connect to the GateManager.

Version 2.1, July 2016
Applicable to LinkManager version 6.0 (build 15432 or later)

Table of Contents
Version history

2

1.1.

System Requirements and Prerequisites

3

2.

Troubleshooting Installation

4

2.1.

Issues when using more than one network adapter

4

2.2.

Issues with rights on the PC

4

2.3.

Issues with firewalls or antivirus

4

2.4.

Issues with LinkManager Adapter.

5Appendix A, LinkManager connection methods

6

Automatic connection methods

6

Manually configured Web-Proxy6

Notices

7Version history 2.1 Added section 2.4 and version history, and added information about
Windows 10Startup and Connection Trouble Shooting Guide

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About the LinkManager Application
LinkManager is a software application that runs on MS Windows and installs as
any other Windows application.
The LinkManager consist of two components that work completely transparent tothe user, and subsequently make the product very user friendly:
1. The LinkManager virtual appliance control module that is visible as an iconin the Windows system tray. The control module menu is accessed by rightclicking the tray icon.
2. The LinkManager virtual appliance that operates in a Vbox engine completely separated from the hosting machine's operating system. It installs its
own network layer on a virtual network adapter. The virtual adapter is using
NAT mode meaning that it will only be seen from the hosting PC and therefore not interfere with anything on the local network. The LinkManager virtual appliance menu is accessed via a web browser that is automaticallylaunched when accessing “Console” from the system tray icon menu.

1.1. System Requirements and Prerequisites
 Any version of Microsoft Windows XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8.x orWindows 10 (both 32 and 64 bit). LinkManager will also run on these OS’es
inside a virtual machine (requires minimum Windows 7 and VT-x enabled in
the BIOS). Refer to the vendor specific guides for specific PLC or HMI products for details

 Intel x86 or compatible processor.
 Min. 512 MB RAM depending on other applications and services installed.
The LinkManager virtual appliance reserves 64 MB RAM for its exclusiveuse.

 Ethernet card with Microsoft Windows or compatible driver installed and attached to a network with a DHCP server. Your network must allow outgoing
access from an application on a PC. Check Appendix A for a description on
how LinkManager obtains access to the Internet.

 In order to install the LinkManager, you must be logged on to the computerwith full administrative privileges.

 The browser GUI used for LinkManager administration, configuration andmonitoring uses frames. Therefore, JavaScript must be enabled in thebrowser.

 You will need a LinkManager certificate file (.lmc) issued from theGateManager, in order to obtain access to equipment through theGateManager, using your LinkManager.

 An installed antivirus program must allow installation of a virtual adapter andsubsequent communication between processes. It is typically not enoughjust to pause the antivirus program.

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2.

Troubleshooting Installation
The symptom for the most typical installation problem is, that the LinkManager tray
icons either stays red, or remains Yellow (starting)

Red Circle – Grey Switch. The LinkManager is stopped.

Yellow Circle – Grey Switch. The LinkManager is starting.

2.1. Issues when using more than one network adapter
If you are often switching between different network adapters on your PC(e.g. between WiFi and Ethernet) combined with using sleep mode, or yourPC is connected with more than one network adapter simultaneously (e.g.
WiFi and Ethernet), you may experience that LinkManager icon will stay yellow. This is typically due to the LinkManager adapter not getting an IP address from the correct network.
You may try to restart the LinkManager (right click the LinkManager tray iconand select Exit, and start it again).
In some cases, you may have to restart the PC to re-initialize the Windows
network stacks.

2.2. Issues with rights on the PC
The LinkManager requires that the user has administrator privileges on thePC where the LinkManager is installed.
Windows 7/8 and Vista:
1. Go to Start > Control Panel, or try go to Start > Search, Type “control panel” and hit Enter
2. Go to User Accounts, or if using Classic View this is under User Accounts and Family Safety.
3. Browse your users to find the current user, the account must show
the text Administrator.
Windows XP:
1. Right click on Start and select Explore.
2. Locate My Computer and right-click and then click Manage, This willshow the Computer Management windows.
3. Expand Local Users and Groups.
4. Click Groups, here you find the Administrators.
5. Double click on Administrators. Here, you will find the list of administrators on the computer.

2.3. Issues with firewalls or antivirus
1. You should first try to stop the personal firewall. However, somepersonal firewalls will retain the blocks even when stopped. In somecases, it is necessary to uninstall it completely. You may not want to
do that, and you could therefore try to reconfigure it.
2. Ensure that the LinkManager virtual engine is allowed to communicate. So ensure that the program linkmanager.exe is not blocked. If
this still does not work, also check the following:
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3. Ensure that the personal firewall has opened for UDP port 8888 (alladdresses, including broad cast) and TCP port 3. Consult your firewall's documentation, or contact your provider. You can limit opening for these ports/protocols for the linkmanager.exe.
4. Ensure that personal firewall or antivirus components are not blocking the LinkManager virtual adapter. Enter your Network Connections settings and enter the properties of the LinkManager Adapter
and uncheck all items that seem to be related to antivirus or personal firewall.
5. Ensure that you do not have a third party VPN client that interrupts
the traffic. For instance, the Checkpoint1 SecureClient has been
seen doing so. To resolve this, enter your Network Connections settings, enter the properties of the LinkManager Adapter and uncheckthe item "Check Point SecuRemote". This will make the LinkManager adapter work, and will have no effect on the SecureClient that canrun together with LinkManager.
6. If there still seems to be an issue, you can check if the LinkManager
virtual engine (vBox) is running at all. First Stop LinkManager via thetray icon menu (the icon should be red). Then hold the Shift key
pressed while selecting Start in the LinkManager tray icon menu.
This should typically give you a black console window with a lot ofboot messages, which indicates that the linkmanager virtual machine process is actually running. If the console window does NOT
appear, it indicates that the virtual machine is not running. In thiscase there would be one or more log files in the LinkManager installation folder (typically
C:\Program Files\Secomea\LinkManager\Machines\LinkManager\Logs

These log files may provide some more info, but may also require
Secomea support personal to interpret.

2.4.

Issues with LinkManager Adapter.
1. The LinkManager will not work with an IP address configured on
the TAP adapter. Check settings in Network connections > LinkManager Adapter > Properties > Internet Protocol Version 4(TCP/IPv4) > Properties > Should be set to “Obtain an IP addressautomatically” and “Obtain DNS server address automatically”.

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Appendix A, LinkManager connection methods
By default LinkManager tries several protocols simultaneously to quickly geta working connection to the GateManager.

Automatic connection methods
ACM/PXP (port 11444): This is a dedicated port for connecting to theGateManager server. Using a dedicated port is normally preferable as it
separates the GateManager related traffic from other out-bound traffic inyour network, so you can more easily track the GateManager traffic on yourlocal network and on your Internet connection. But using a dedicated port also means that you will probably need to open this port in the company firewall, which may collide with corporate policy rules.
HTTPS/TLS (port 443): This connects to the GateManager using the TLS
protocol on port 443. This should work through firewalls that allow out-going
HTTPS connections.
TLS over HTTP (port 80): This connects to the GateManager using thestandard HTTP port 80, but immediately upgrades that connection to a secure TLS connection. This may work through a firewall that only allows outgoing HTTP connections.
TLS via Web-proxy: This connects through a Web Proxy, requesting thatWeb Proxy to connect to the GateManager on port 443. Once established,
the normal TLS protocol is used.
HTTP via Web-proxy: This connects through a specified Web Proxy (seebelow), requesting that Web Proxy to connect to the GateManager on port
80. Once established, the connection is upgraded to a secure TLS connection.

Manually configured Web-Proxy
Generally LinkManager will automatically search the Windows registry for information about available web proxies. Such information may originate froma users configuration of a web browser, or the web browsers automatic detection of the web proxy via the WPAD protocol.
You can manually enter the IP address (and optional port number separatedby colon) of the Web Proxy through which the LinkManager should connect
to the GateManager.
Alternatively, you may specify a Web-Proxy Auto-Detect (WPAD) URL in theweb proxy address field, from which the appliance can obtain the actualWeb-proxy address, for example http://172.16.1.1:8080/wpad.dat.
If the Web Proxy requires authentication from the appliance, you can specify
the necessary username and password. Digest, NTLMv2, NTLMv1, andBasic authentication methods are supported (in that order).
For an NTLM-based Web-proxy, the account is typically specified as
DOMAIN\USER, i.e. a domain name and a user name separated by a backslash character.
The Windows PC's hostname is used as workstation name in NTLM authentication; if needed, a different workstation name can be specified before theaccount name separated by a colon, i.e. WORKSTATION:DOMAIN\USER.
If you need to specify an empty domain, user, or password, write a single #character in the corresponding input field.

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Notices
Publication and copyright© Copyright Secomea A/S 2014-2016. All rights reserved. You may download
and print a copy for your own use. As a high-level administrator, you may use
whatever you like from contents of this document to create your own instructions
for deploying our products. Otherwise, no part of this document may be copied or
reproduced in any way, without the written consent of Secomea A/S. We would appreciate getting a copy of the material you produce in order to make our own material better and – if you give us permission – to inspire other users.

Trademarks
GateManager™, SiteManager™ and LinkManager™ are trademarks of Secomea
A/S. Other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Disclaimer
Secomea A/S reserves the right to make changes to this publication and to theproducts described herein without notice. The publication of this document does
not represent a commitment on the part of Secomea A/S. Considerable effort has
been made to ensure that this publication is free of inaccuracies and omissions but
we can not guarantee that there are none.
The following paragraph does not apply to any country or state where such provisions are inconsistent with local law:
SECOMEA A/S PROVIDES THIS PUBLICATION "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY
OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT
LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR
FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE
Secomea A/S shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential,or other damage alleged in connection with the furnishing or use of this information.

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