The Knowledgebases section in the the admin console provides a list of all the KBs currently on the server. To access this section, go to KB Management > Knowledgebases

The default view shows columns for the name and description for each KB, as well as the KB Revision and Status.

Status Values

ValueMeaning
OKIndicates an active KB.
InvalidKB failed to delete or patch correctly. Invalid KBs don't appear in the drop-down menu of the server login page.
Disabled Disabled KBs do not appear in the drop-down menu of the server login page.
Importing/DeletingIndicates a KB being created, deleted, or imported. This status is rarely seen.
Sync Carrier KB

A KB used for an entity set sync export. This status appears only when exporting an entity set to hard drive via Sync settings in the standard  administrator interface.  creates a temporary placeholder KB for export purposes. After the export completes successfully, the KB is scheduled for immediate deletion. Persistent visibility of KBs with this status may indicate a bug. Further inspection or contacting  support is recommended.

Copy a Knowledgebase

Choose Copy to create a copy of an existing KB on the same server. Copying creates a new KB using the original KB as a template. Copying KBs is useful to create a development or test copy of a KB to test changes and integrations, or if you need a new KB whose structures are more similar to an existing KB than the available defaults.

When creating a copy for testing purposes, there is a danger that the copy may grab emails intended for the original knowledgebase. This may generate warning messages claiming that old issues have not been resolved. To prevent this, deselect the checkboxes for copying inbound email settings and copying rules.

The Admin KB can't be copied.

Delete a Knowledgebase

KBs can be deleted from the admin console. Deleting KBs helps free up server space.

  1. Choose Delete to remove the KB. A confirmation dialog will open.

Deletion Process

When deleting a knowledgebase, the system performs these tasks in the following order:

  1. Disables background and Web services for the KB.
  2. Logs out any users currently working in the KB.
  3. Locks user tables to prevent any changes.
  4. Disables any foreign keys.
  5. Collects all nullable fields in user tables that references data in the system tables (e.g. the History table), then nullifies said user fields.
  6.  Deletes data in system tables using a prepared list of SQL statements. These are defined as XML and found in: java/projects/importer/resources/resources/import/sw2delete.xml. Note that if any system table or foreign is added/deleted from the original sw2.xml file, the sw2delete.xml file must also be updated to reflect the changes.
  7. Deletes all user tables in the database.
  8. Re-enables foreign keys and background services.
  9. Deletes the KB home directory.

If a backup of the deleted KB was already taken, the backup is preserved. See Set Up Knowledgebase Backups for more information.

The system prevents the Admin KB from being deleted.

Editing a Knowledgebase

Click the Edit icon next to a KB name to open the Edit menu. This provides options to:

Only some of these options are available when editing the Admin KB.

Rename/Edit tab

ElementDescription

Edit tables from the admin console

The Edit Tables menu provides the same level of access to editing database tables as if the administrator is logged in to the Staff Interface. See Tables for more information.

Rename a knowledgebase

You can rename a KB through the admin console. Renaming can be useful for exporting to a server that may have a KB by the same name, or for marking KBs for retirement, but not deletion.

Reset user password

You can reset a user's password directly from the Admin Console. 

  • You must know the user's login. There is no lookup for logins when resetting passwords from the console.
  • Attempting to reset the password for a nonexistent user results in an error.
  • Restrictions on valid passwords for each user are controlled in the Staff administrator accounts in individual KBs.

Reset user properties

Resetting user properties will reset the cached information of that user’s session. None of the data in the KB is reset by this operation. This feature is used primarily to troubleshoot situations where users have cleared their browser cache but the GUI still displays incorrectly.
Reset user GUI preferencesThis option can resolve issues with GUI items like the navigation menu. This feature is used primarily to troubleshoot situations where a user's preference is missed or incomplete.
Delete Demo DataUse this to remove all demo records and rules from the KB.

Options tab

ElementDescription

Frequency

This option determines the shortest time interval, in minutes, allowed between successive time-based searches. Many searches, often when running Charts and Reports, can get complex and put a significant burden on the server. Limiting the number of times such a search can run prevents a single KB from spiking the load and resulting in a potentially downed server.

The minimum allowable interval between searches is one minute, with the default set to five minutes.

Communications Structures

Displays the communication type for the KB. This will usually show Unified Communications.

In Unified Communications, all communication information is collected into the All Communications table with relevant links. This setting may show users any relevant communication whether or not it is linked to the particular record in question.

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