Gateway Installation Guide

Gateways serve as an access point to your network and systems. Gateways direct traffic from users that log in to the VPAM server to provide support. The Gateways software system is accessible by administrative users of your VPAM server and they are housed in your Local Area Network (LAN), on a server that you manage. When you install a Gateway, you are also installing a Gatekeeper for that Gateway.

The difference between a Gateway and a Gatekeeper is the function of each of them. A Gateway functions as a secure entry point for support agents to access remotely to applications that do not require built-in services. On the other hand, a Gatekeeper provides built-in services to support agents that access a single application in your systems.

In other words, Gateways provide access to your systems while Gatekeepers provide services.

In this page you will find the steps to create a Gateway, install the Gatekeeper software for the Gateway, and register the Gateway to start hosting applications.

Create a New Gateway

To create a new Gateway, you must have administrator privileges or a role with enough permissions to create it. Then:

  1. Open the Applications page from your VPAM server Administrator Console.

  2. Click Gateway List from the menu.

    The system displays a list of all the Gateways in your VPAM server.

  3. Click Add New Gateway.

    The system prompts you to provide a Gateway Name. Ensure that you use a unique name for your new Gateway.

    IMPORTANT:

    This process creates a new Gatekeeper and a single Gatekeeper Instance as a pool of one (1). To create pooled instances, open

  4. Click Save.
    The system displays the installation instructions.

Create Additional Instances Within an Existing Gateway

A Gateway with a single pooled instance brokers all connection sessions on its own, but adding additional Pooled or Failover instances inside that Gateway improves your future server maintenance and provides redundancy into your session availability.

Two or more Pooled Gateway Instances automatically load balance the connections from your Vendor Reps and internal users. Each Gateway Instance will have a Gatekeeper software package download with a unique registration code. Each instance will need to be installed onto a new host and registered for it to function correctly.

When you create a new Gateway Instance in an existing gateway, you can choose its type:

  • Pooled: Connections will be balanced across the online Pooled instances.

  • Fail Over: Fail Over instances will only handle connections if there are no Pooled instances online.

New connections will be handled by the Pooled Instance with the least connections. If there are no Pooled Instances online, the Fail Over Instance with the least connections will be used instead. This means the Pooled Instances will be used normally but if all of them are offline, the Fail Over Instances will be used instead.

Install the Gateway's Gatekeeper

The Gateway system requires that you install its Gatekeeper on a dedicated system that will route the vendor rep traffic to you applications. After you save the Gateway and the instructions page opens, you can download the Gatekeeper directly or share the Gatekeeper download page to the system where you want to install it.

IMPORTANT:
Each Gateway and Gatekeeper pairing is unique. Follow one of the processes below to ensure that the Gateway and Gatekeeper you install match, otherwise, the installation will not be successful.

To install the Gateway's Gatekeeper in the system you used to create the Gateway:

  1. Copy and safe-keep the registration code.
    This registration code is essential for the next process!

  2. Locate the distribution you want to use: Windows or Linux.

    • For Windows, your browser downloads an installation wizard that you can run and install automatically.

    • For Linux, the Linux installation instructions open on another tab.

  3. Complete the installation and continue to the register process.

To install the Gateway's Gatekeeper on a different system:

  1. Copy and safe-keep the registration code.
    This registration code is essential for the next process!

  2. Copy the link to the downloads page.

  3. Share the link to the computer where you want to install the Gateway.

  4. Locate the distribution you want to use: Windows or Linux.

    • For Windows, your browser downloads an installation wizard that you can run and install automatically.

    • For Linux, the installation instructions open on another tab.

  5. Complete the installation and continue to the register process.

Register the Gateway

After you install your Gateway's Gatekeeper in the target computer:

  1. Open your preferred browser.

  2. Open the following address: localhost:4680

  3. Paste the registration code.

  4. Select Allow registration to self-signed servers.

  5. Submit the registration code.

Upgrade the Host Server of a Gateway

You can upgrade the host server of a Gateway to move it to new infrastructure without interrupting user access to applications. When Gateway Instances are configured as pooled instances, they share the same configuration and can handle traffic interchangeably. This allows you to upgrade with little or no downtime when you follow the correct process.

To upgrade the host server, your System Admin must ensure the new server is on the same network (LAN) as the existing Gateway and they must verify that firewall rules, ports, and network access match the existing server.

This method uses pooled Gateway Instances to maintain service during the upgrade.

  1. Prepare the New Server

    1. Provision a new server in the same LAN as the existing Gateway host.
      Configure the server with the same:

      • Firewall rules

      • Network access to managed hosts and services

      • Required ports and outbound connectivity

    2. Verify the server meets all Gateway system requirements.

  2. Create a New Gateway Instance

    1. Log in to the VPAM Administrator Console.

    2. Navigate to Applications > Gateway List.

    3. Select the existing Gateway.

    4. Click New Instance.

    5. Select Pooled as the instance type.
      The new instance automatically inherits all applications, hosts, and services from the existing instance and stays synchronized.

  3. Install and Register the New Instance

    1. Install the Gatekeeper software on the new server.

    2. Register the instance using the provided registration code.

  4. Disable the Old Instance

    1. In the original Gateway Instance, select Disable > Graceful.

      NOTE: The Graceful disable button requires you to have the latest VPAM version. If you do not have access to the Graceful disable button, monitor active sessions and wait until after hours when there is zero activity (or minimal activity) before disabling the Gateway instance, upgrading the host machine, and then re-installing and re-registering the instance.

      This action:

      1. Stops new sessions from starting

      2. Allows active sessions to finish

      3. Automatically disables the instance when it becomes idle

  5. Validate and Remove the Old Instance

    1. Confirm that the new instance is handling all user sessions.

    2. Monitor system activity for at least one full business cycle.

    3. Remove the old instance from the interface.

    4. Decommission the old server.

Use this method if you want to run both instances in parallel for a longer validation period.

  1. Complete Steps 1–3 from the recommended method.

  2. Keep both Gateway Instances active.

  3. Allow traffic to be distributed across both instances.

  4. After validation:

    1. Gracefully disable the old instance.

    2. Remove the old instance.

    3. Decommission the old server.

Use this method when you require extended validation before removing the old server or when your environment already uses multiple pooled or failover Gateway Instances.

BEST PRACTICE:
Always use pooled Gateway Instances in production environments. This ensures high availability and allows maintenance tasks, such as upgrades, to occur without disrupting user access.

Troubleshooting

If you encounter an issue during the download, installation, and registry process , consider the following:

If you did not safe-keep your Gateway's Gatekeeper registration code, consider the following:

  1. Open the Gateway you just created.

  2. Select the instance that you need to register.

  3. Copy the registration code.
    If the registration code does not appear, select Reset. The system provides a new registration code for the Gateway's Gatekeeper.

  4. Open the localhost:4680 address on the system where you installed the Gateway.

  5. Submit the new registration code.
    Remember to select Allow registration to self-signed servers.

If you followed the installation and registration processes, but your Gateway's Gatekeeper appears offline, do the following:

  1. From the localhost:4680 address, click Help.

  2. Select Connectivity Test.

  3. Run the Connectivity Test.

If the Gateway's Gatekeeper is still offline:

  1. From the localhost:4680 address, click Settings.

  2. In the Enable Backup Pruning section, click Advanced Settings.

  3. Click Reset Gatekeeper Registration.

These steps effectively disconnect the Gateway's Gatekeeper. Then, from the Administrator Console:

  1. Open the Gateway you just reset.

  2. Select Reset.
    The system provides a new registration code for the Gateway's Gatekeeper.

  3. Re-open the localhost:4680 address on the system where you installed the Gateway.

  4. Submit the new registration code.
    Remember to select Allow registration to self-signed servers.