Workplace 2016.4 Service Update
November 2016
Release Notes
The 2016.4 Workplace Service Update consists of the following updates:
Workplace Rebrand
The rebrand of the product formerly known as Soonr to the product we're pleased to call Workplace is now complete.
Throughout our documentation, communications, and within the Workplace components, you'll see changes to logos, icons, and other brand-related changes. We've also updated some of the terminology in our interface.
- New Log In page with a link to our new Download page:
Workplace Login Page
Workplace Manager Login Page - Single sign-on integration guide integrations.
- Integrations with Document Editors
- Project Notifications and other emails generated by Workplace
IMPORTANT We recommend reconfiguring your SSO integration with the new Autotask Workplace settings, as described in the SSO Integration support article. Please note that logging in via the "/loginsso" method will not function until the SSO integration is reconfigured.
IMPORTANT Please note Online Document Editor integrations will need to be reconfigured after this service update!
- References to the Soonr Workplace Desktop Agent have been replaced with Workplace Desktop
- Workplace Outlook plugin
- For new installations of Workplace Desktop, the local folder that syncs your project will be called the Workplace folder. If you're upgrading Workplace Desktop, however, the folder name will not change.
If you wish to change the name, refer to Can I move the Workplace folder?
- Available for iOS and Android
In order to improve transparency when we talk about critical system and user information, we've updated the following terminology:
- Agent ID is now referred to as Device ID, as it uniquely identifies a device with Workplace installed.
- Company ID is now referred to as Team ID.
- If you are an Autotask Workplace Partner using Workplace Manager, the Company ID that identifies you is now called your Reseller ID.
New Features
NOTE This feature requires Workplace Desktop 6.0 or later.
The new Deployment page allows you to manage and monitor Workplace Desktopdeployment activities for devices associated with your team. The associated Configure deployment page allows you to customize deployment options and generate the team keys necessary to the process.
In order to deploy Workplace Desktop to the users on your team, you will generate a "team key," which will then be used by the system to deploy Workplace Desktop to desktop or laptop devices.
NOTE The team key can only be used for remote installations from the Deployment page; refer to Silent installation for more information. Local installation will, as always, result in a request for credentials.
Automatic assignment and approval is available for machines bound to Active Directory; simply enable the Automatically approve devices feature on the Configure deployment page.
If the Automatically approve devices feature is disabled or if the device is not bound to Active Directory, you will have to manually approve and assign the devices on the Deployment page.
The user associated with the device will be notified of deployment and approval and must accept the Autotask Workplace End User License Agreement in order to begin using Workplace Desktop.
We've created a new sharing permission level for you! You can now provide View Only access to users with whom you share projects, folders, or files.
Users with View Only permissions can only view the shared item via Workplace Online or Workplace Mobile.
They cannot print, download, save, or sync the item to their Workplace folder.
NOTE You can also apply a watermark to the preview using the new Watermark Preview Policy policy described below.
This policy places a watermark on files accessed with View Only permissions, described above.
The watermark consists of the user's full name and email address. Watermarks are only applied to converted files, not to images or videos.
Refer to File conversion limits for more information on which file types are converted.
NOTE These new policies require Workplace Desktop 6.0 or later.
This policy allows you to specify the default location for the Workplace Folder on installation of Workplace Desktop.
Once this policy is added to a policy profile, you will designate new path(s) on the new Manage Workplace Location page.
The following rules govern path use:
- Multiple paths can be designated.
- If a folder in the specified path does not exist, Workplace Desktop will attempt to create it.
- Tokens such as OS user name, OS computer name, Autotask Workplace UserID, etc., can be used to specify variables in the path(s).
- The path(s) are validated by Workplace Desktop. If the path(s) are found to be invalid, Workplace Desktop will skip to next specified path.
- The default location for the Workplace Desktop folder remains unchanged. If no other valid path is provided, it will reside in the user profile.
- If multiple paths are provided, the Workplace Folder will be created using the first valid path the system encounters, using the order in which you provided the paths.
- In order for the path to be valid:
- the OS user under which Workplace Desktop is installed must have full permissions to the path
- The final folder in the path must not exist or be empty
This policy allows you to specify the folder paths to be backed up to the Workplace service.
Once this policy is added to a policy profile, you will designate new path(s) on the new Manage Backup Folders page.
If this policy is enabled, the new Backup paths controlled by service check box on the Workplace Desktop Backup tab will be selected by default upon installation, but users may clear the check box to customize the folders they wish to back up. If they select the check box again, only paths designated in this policy will be backed up.
This policy allows you to specify projects that will automatically sync to the device.
Once this policy is added to a policy profile, you will designate new path(s) on the new Manage Projects to Sync page.
If you add this policy to a policy profile, it will add or remove synced projects in the assigned user's Workplace Folder to match only the projects you have designated for sync.
If this policy is enabled, the new Project list controlled by service check box on the Workplace Desktop Sync tabwill be selected by default, but users may clear the check box to customize the projects they wish to sync. If they select the check box again, only projects designated in this policy will be synced.
In scenarios in which an administrator upgrades devices with a new version of Workplace Desktop remotely, this policy can be enabled so that end users are not prompted when an update is available.
The new Reports page in Workplace Manager allows you to report on events that take place within Workplace Manager.
Events you can now report on include, but are not limited to, the creation, amendment, or deletion of teams, or manager user logins.
Refinements
When sharing projects, folders, and files with other users, the ability to create Public Links and to Reshare can be applied separately.
This provides you with you more granular control over the items you share and therefore improved security.
For details, refer to Manage project, folder, and file team shares.
The Select Policies page has been restructured, with individual policies placed into more logical categories. If you have trouble finding items in the new structure, please remember that we've provided a policy search feature at the top of the page.
We've consolidated some policies for ease of use and added others in order to provide you with greater flexibility when you construct and customize your Policy Profiles, which determine the behavior of the Workplace product for the users on your team.
Now, when you move a project, folder, or file, you'll see a new Show Hidden Projects check box.
This provides you with a quick way to drop an item into a previously hidden project without having to "unhide" the destination project first.
On the Previous Versions page, the six-month backup version will always display (if the backup was started six months ago or more), even if it is identical to a more recent version.
In short, the page will display the last backup older than the six-month mark.
EXAMPLE For example, if a backup was made eight months ago and nothing changed until two months ago, the eight-month-old version will show as the oldest available version (even though it is over the six-month retention mark).
While the version in question was always accessible, this change should reduce confusion. For more information, refer to How backups work.
By default, only personal documents will sync to the Workplace service.
Ask me before syncing is the default setting when projects are shared with you. You can change this default setting whenever you like, on the Sync tab.
After installation, you can always add more projects to sync via the Sync and unsync projects with Workplace Desktop and Selective sync pages.
Previously, when Active Directory was disabled or a group was removed from Active Directory, the group would also be removed in Workplace. This resulted in the loss of permissions and policy settings.
With this release, when an Active Directory group is disabled or removed, the Active Directory group is converted into a Workplace group.
The following changes have been made to the menu displayed when Windows users click the icon in their taskbar.
- The Settings submenu has been removed.
- Open Desktop Agent has been changed to Preferences…
- Run as Service can now only be started via command line.
We’ve added an .xml file that can be picked up, for monitoring purposes, by Autotask Endpoint Management. For more information, refer to this topic in the AEM help.
In Workplace Manager, the Team List on the Teams page has been refined in the following ways:
- The default column order has been changed to place the most important information first.
- The user interface has been improved to make information easier to locate and to understand.
In Workplace Manager, you can now preview your support information exactly as your customers will see it using new preview link on the Set up your support information page.
As always, your customers can access this information either from the Help icon in Workplace Online, or from Workplace Desktop.
All automated emails sent from Workplace Manager to end users (welcome emails, out-of-quota notifications, etc.) will display the support information you've defined in as defined on the Set up your support information page.
Bug Fixes
Converted Trial Teams
Converted trial teams previously showed as Expired after reactivation, which impacted the widgets on the Dashboard. They now display correctly.