Editing CGI options

Helix ALM uses the following CGIs for communication between the Helix ALM Server and clients:

  • Helix ALM Web—ttcgi.exe
  • Helix ALM Web Server Admin Utility—ttadmcgi.exe
  • Helix ALM SDK—ttsoapcgi.exe
  • Helix ALM External Source Control Provider—ttextpro.exe

You can change values and options for the CGIs to support access to multiple servers from the web clients, specify different locations for the web client CGIs and HTML files if they are moved, use different options for SOAP client application interaction, and set specific options for handling Helix ALM projects when the CGIs are used.

1. Start the registry utility and then click CGI Options.

The Edit CGI Options dialog box opens.

2. Make any changes.

The default Helix ALM Server is the server that the CGIs connect to when users log in, click hyperlinks to open items, access RSS feeds, or submit information via SoloSubmit. To allow the CGIs to connect to other servers, add them in the Set up additional Helix ALM Servers area in this dialog box.

Field Description
Server name Server name to display in the web clients. Use a unique name to distinguish between multiple servers.
Server address IP address or domain name of the computer the default server is installed on. If the server is running on the same computer as the CGI, use 127.0.0.1 or localhost.
Port Port number that the default server listens on. The server reads this value when it starts. The CGIs read this value every time a user sends a command to the server from a browser.
Public key fingerprint Key used when connecting to the Helix ALM from the web clients. Required if RSA key exchange is enabled for the server. Click Import to import the key from the file exported from the admin utility. Select the file and click Open to add the key. To remove the key, click Remove.
If you are running the server on the current computer, we recommend changing the reboot port value instead of the port value in this dialog box. When the server is restarted, it copies the reboot port value to the server port field. See Editing general server options.

If you are only running the CGIs on this computer, we recommend changing both the reboot port and the server port to the same value. These changes should be made when you are also making a similar change to the computer that runs the server application. If the changes are not made at the same time, the CGI will connect to one port while the server listens on a different port.
Field Description
Hostname override for cross-site requests Hostname that can be used for cross-origin requests.

The default CGI values are used by Helix ALM Web CGI for all projects on all servers the CGI connects to and Helix ALM Web Server Admin Utility CGI.

Field Description
CGI bin path Path and filename for ttcgi.exe relative to the web server root directory. The default Microsoft IIS location is /scripts/ttcgi.exe and the default Apache location is /cgi-bin/ttcgi.exe.
Forms path Directory the Helix ALM Web HTML files are stored in. If the files are moved, enter the full path to the new location.
HTML forms path Directory the Helix ALM Web HTML files are stored in relative to the web server root directory. The default location is a subdirectory named ttweb in the root web server directory. If the files are moved to a different directory, create an alias named ttweb on the web server. If the files are moved and an alias was not created, you must enter the location in this field. Leave this field empty if the files are in the default location or you created an alias on the web server.

For example, if the web server root directory is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\ and the HTML files are stored in C:\inetpub\wwwroot\qadept\ttwebpages, this field must contain /qadept/ttwebpages if an alias was not created on the web server.
Admin CGI bin path Path and filename for ttadmcgi.exe relative to the web server root directory. The default Microsoft IIS location is /scripts/ttadmcgi.exe and the default Apache location is /cgi-bin/ttadmcgi.exe.
Admin forms path Directory the Helix ALM Web Server Admin Utility HTML files are stored in. If the files are moved, enter the full path to the new location.
Admin HTML forms path Directory the Helix ALM Web Server Admin Utility HTML files are stored in relative to the web server root directory. The default location is a subdirectory named ttweb/ttadmin in the root web server directory. If the files are moved to a different directory, create an alias named ttweb/ttadmin on the web server. If the files are moved and an alias was not created, you must enter the location in this field. Leave this field empty if the files are in the default location or you created an alias on the web server.

For example, if the web server root directory is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\ and the HTML files are stored in C:\inetpub\wwwroot\qadept\ttwebpages, this field must contain /qadept/ttwebpages if an alias was not created on the web server.

The following options are applied when using the Helix ALM SOAP CGI.

Field Description
Override temporary file path Location of the temporary directory used by the CGI when attaching files to items using the Helix ALM SDK. Select a directory that anonymous users can access.
Use 64-bit cookies If selected, 64-bit session cookies are used when SOAP client applications and the CGI communicate, which can help prevent session hijacking attacks. SOAP client applications must be able to receive, store, and send 64-bit integer cookie values if this option is selected.
Enforce security over backward compatibility If selected, communication between the SOAP CGI and the Helix ALM Server is encrypted using the improved Diffie-Hellman key exchange introduced in TestTrack 2014.1 instead of the older method in earlier versions. Selecting this option may affect performance of all requests sent from SOAP applications. You may not want to select this option if your SOAP applications are timing dependent.

If you have a distributed web installation, you can configure the Helix ALM Web and Helix ALM Web Server Admin Utility CGIs to access multiple Helix ALM Servers hosted on other computers in the network. When users log in to the web clients, the projects list includes all projects users have access to across all servers.

The external source control provider CGI only supports the default server. To use external source control provider scripts with multiple servers, you must install and configure the CGI on separate web servers.

To allow the CGIs to connect to other servers, expand the Set up additional Helix ALM Servers area and click Add. Enter the following information:

  • Server Name—Unique name to help users easily identify the server.
  • Server Address—IP address or domain name of the computer the server is installed on.
  • Server Port—Port that the server reads when it starts. The CGI reads this value every time a user sends a command to the server from a browser.
Select a server and click Top, Move Up, Move Down, or Bottom to reorder the list. Projects are displayed in the login dialog box in this order. For example, all projects on the default server are displayed first, followed by all projects on the first server in this list.

You can override the HTML file locations for specific projects. By default, all projects use the values in the Default CGI values for all projects area, but you can change them for specific projects if needed. For example, you may want to change the values if you use customized SoloSubmit pages for a specific project and they are stored in a different location. Any changes only affect the specified project.

To override the HTML file location for a specific project, expand the Override values for specific projects area and click Add.

Field Description
Project ID ID that uniquely identifies the project. To find the ID, start the server admin utility and click Projects. The ID is displayed in the first column of the Projects dialog box.
Override forms path Directory the HTML files are stored in. Overrides the value in the Forms path field.
Override HTML forms path Directory customized images used in the project files are stored in relative to the web server root directory. Overrides the value in the HTML forms path field. Images should be stored in the images directory of the HTML forms path. For example, if the web server root directory is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\ and customized images are stored in C:\inetpub\wwwroot\qadept\ttwebpages\images, this field must contain \qadept\ttwebpages\images. Leave this field empty if you are not using customized images.

3. Click OK to save the changes.