Get started > Accessing Service Manager > Logging on from the web client

Logging on from the web client

The HPE Service Manager web client has four views (modes):

  • Power User view (index.do)
  • Employee Self-Service User view (ess.do)
  • Accessible view (accessible.do)
  • Self-Service Accessible view (accessible-ess.do)

These views are intended for different users. For details, see Web client views.

Web browser session management

Prior to Service Manager version 9.31, if you log in to the Service Manager web client and then open a new web client tab sharing the same session, the session may collide, and unexpected behavior occurs. For example, if you log in to the web client in Power User mode, and then open another page in Self-Service User mode, the newly-opened page causes the original working page to automatically log out. This may result in front tier data loss, depending on the application modes of the two pages. A typical scenario is that you log in to the web client in the index.do mode, and then you attempt to open an Incident record link in the ess.do mode from an HTML email notification.

Service Manager versions 9.31 through 9.33 have solved this problem by allowing only one live web client in the same browser session. When you open two tabs that share the same browser session, a warning is displayed. You must save your work in the original working tab before you continue. For details, see their specific online help. However, the functionality interrupts the workflow of the existing session and the warning messages could be annoying.

As of Service Manager version 9.34, this functionality has been improved by optimizing the behavior in the following two power user scenarios: a new tab or window (depending on your browser's setting for opening external links) opens always in power mode without a warning, and the original working tab is no longer expired: 

  • Scenario 1: You log in through power mode first, and then click an email link in power mode as well.
  • Scenario 2: You log in through power mode first, and then click an email link in self-service mode.

Note In the following self-service user scenarios, Service Manager 9.34 or later behaves the same way as in Service Manager 9.31 through 9.33. This is based on self-service user persona analysis and the design that only one application thread is allowed in one user session for self- service mode access to avoid potential data loss:

  • Scenario 3: You log in through self-service mode first, and then click an email link in power mode.
  • Scenario 4: You log in through self-service mode first, and then click an email link in self-service mode.

The following tables provide a comparison of the behaviors in different versions of Service Manager.

Table 1: Service Manager 9.31/9.32/9.33 behavior
Scenario Does a warning display? Is the original working tab expired? In which mode does the new browser tab or window open?
1 Yes Yes Power mode
2 Yes Yes

You are prompted to select one of the following modes:

  • Self-service mode (which requires a re-login)
  • Power mode
3 Yes Yes

You are prompted to select one of the following modes:

  • Self-service mode
  • Power mode (which requires a re-login)
4 Yes Yes Self-service mode
Table 2: Service Manager 9.34 or later behavior
Scenario Does a warning display? Is the original working tab expired? In which mode does the new browser tab or window open?
1 No No

Power mode

Note The new tab or window directly opens up to the linked record, and retrieves only saved data of the pages that are open in the first browser tab. Either continue to work in the first tab, or save your changes in the first tab and then work in the second one.

When you first log in through accessible mode, the behavior is similar.

2 No No

Power mode

Note The new tab or window directly opens up to the linked record, and retrieves only saved data of the pages that are open in the first browser tab. Either continue to work in the first tab, or save your changes in the first tab and then work in the second one.

When you first log in through accessible mode, the behavior is similar.

3 Yes Yes

You are prompted to select one of the following modes:

  • Self-service mode
  • Power mode (which requires a re-login)

Note The behavior is the same as in previous versions (9.31, 9.32, and 9.33). When you first log in through self-service accessible mode, the behavior is similar.

4 Yes Yes

Self-service mode

Note The behavior is the same as in previous versions (9.31, 9.32, and 9.33). When you first log in through self-service accessible mode, the behavior is similar.

Note This functionality also works as described in Table 2 when your system has Lightweight Single Sign-On (LW-SSO) enabled or is horizontally scaled.

Limitations

  • Process Designer workflow tab pages (Tailoring > Process Designer > Workflows) that are open in the original browser tab cannot be recovered in the new browser tab.
  • When you refresh the web client in the new browser tab by using the browser’s Refresh feature, you may see a browser warning. Ignore the warning, and click Retry (in Microsoft Internet Explorer) or Resend (in Mozilla Firefox) to continue.
  • A warning page is displayed when you download files from the browser (for example, when you export a record list to a text file). There are several workarounds to this issue. For example, you can hold down the Ctrl key and click the OK button on the Export to Text screen, until the file download dialog appears.
  • In a trusted sign-on (TSO) environment, rapidly opening multiple links may cause unexpected errors or a session timeout. This is because Service Manager creates a temporary session during login. If you open multiple links too fast, the following issues may occur:

    • The temporary session terminates at the server side after a successful login, and therefore all requests with the temporary session may result in a logout. This logout will direct the web client to a goodbye page, which will terminate your session at the server side.

      If you have logged on to the web client, all subsequent requests will open up a warning page. Only the most recent page is kept active, and the others expire.

    • Subsequent requests are sent before the first request is returned with a temporary session. Therefore, the server does not know if these requests are from the same browser session.
    • If you log on to the web client, all subsequent requests will result in a warning page. Only the most recent page is kept active, and the others expire.