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What is Cyclone Activator?

Cyclone is a program whose only purpose is to transfer files to and from DHL securely.

• Cyclone is used instead of FTP; FTP is still an option for any vendor software

• Cyclone is not involved in the shipping process

• Cyclone runs as a service called ECEngine

• Cyclone can be installed on any version of Windows that supports services

• Cyclone requires Administrator rights to install the service

Through the use of the web mailbox, all connections originate from the client system connecting to the DHL Cyclone server. The DHL implementation of Cyclone Activator requires only that the internet connection is able to query the web mailbox server. Any files being delivered to the client from the server are delivered to a secure web mailbox on the DHL server. The client system is configured by default to poll this web mailbox every 20 minutes for new files.

The web mailbox is akin to a person owning a post office box. A person sending a letter through the post office uses a centralized location that is used by all patrons of that post office. A person receiving mail visits his numbered box at the post office and uses a key to access a space available only to him and the post office. The person then takes whatever mail delivered to him home himself.

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Firewall, Proxy & Network Appliances

The Cyclone Activator program is designed to function well with most proxy servers and firewall appliances in use. Most firewall and proxy servers designed for access control and not content control will not interfere with the use of Cyclone Activator.

Firewalls and proxy servers which exclude sites by default will need to include the Cyclone Server to allow for Cyclone Activator to communicate with DHL. Also, any sort of packet filtering or traffic management appliance needs to allow Cyclone Activator’s messages to go through.

S/MIME wrapped message sent over



There are known networking issues with the following systems that prevent the full functionality of Cyclone Activator. These issues include:

• Microsoft Proxy and ISA servers require NTLM authentication. This connection method is not supported by Cyclone Activator, which is a Java based program. This can be overcome by a local proxy app*

• Watch Guard products filter S/MIME headers from Cyclone’s messages, creating a message to be sent to DHL’s server without an addressee.

DHL can only assist in the identification of which issue may be preventing communication while using Cyclone Activator. Full resolution of networking difficulties often require for the local IT staff to be contacted and may require networking reconfiguration. Solutions to networking blocking problems can only be suggested by DHL and DHL cannot assist in their implementation

Important notes about Cyclone Activator

When running the ramp tool, Cyclone’s installation application, it is doing more than just installing a program. It is the registration of the system’s unit ID with the DHL Cyclone Server. Secure certificates are exchanged as a relationship with the server is established.

All files sent and received by DHL and the end point user system are encrypted and signed with a secure certificate that can only be decrypted by the matching one on the other end.

This means if Cyclone is reinstalled, new certificates are created, but cannot be imported due to an existing registration, nullifying the previous registration.

• You do not need Cyclone during testing for anything having to do with your shipping system, since Cyclone has nothing to do with shipping. All files and information are provided to you.

• Do not install Cyclone in a test environment. It will always communicate with DHL’s production environment. If you have to install Cyclone in a test environment, contact 3PVImplementation@ to discuss options.

• Do not reinstall Cyclone without contacting 3PVImplementation@ first.

• Do not move Cyclone to another PC without contacting 3PVImplementation@ first.

Reinstalling, moving or changing Cyclone’s settings without contacting DHL first can invalidate its registration with the server.

Alert from DHL Express

Sept. 9, 2013

Vendor Support Teams--

DHL Express has been growing exponentially over the course of the last 2 years. With growth comes change, and we have a couple that will affect our 3rd party vendor systems.

The first change is that we have created a new Cyclone Activator installation tool. Cyclone is a DHL Express supported program that is used to transfer files between customer shipping systems and the DHL servers securely.

What this means to you:

1. Please discontinue all use of the Cyclone Installation tools you are currently using after September 19th, 2013.

2. All current customers will be migrated to a new server. This change will be transparent to the customer with no interruption to communication with DHL.

3. There will be no reinstall or configuration changes necessary to current customers.

4. All systems from this day forward will need to be installed using the new tool, named CycloneActivator2013.exe. This installer will be available from me within a week and will be distributed using a download link. Please avoid installing ramp until you receive a new installer.

The second piece of news is just a heads up that our Import Express account numbers, also known as 95/96 accounts, will be adding a range starting with 94. No action is required right now; future SAS updates will include this change. The addition of this new account range is tentatively planned for Q1 2015.

Please spread the word to your teams and colleagues. As always, I am here to support all of you in any way I can. The new installation tool is not available yet, but will be within the next few days. Please call or email me if you have issues, questions or concerns.

Thank you,

--

Lisa Blade

3PV Systems Integration Manager

DHL Express

1144 W. Washington St.

Tempe, AZ 85281

United States of America

Phone: +1 480 636-2182

Mobile: +1 480 686-4158

Fax: +1 480 636-2025

lisa.blade@

Skype: lisa.dhl



Announcement from DHL Express

10/28/2013

Valued Vendor Partner--

Great news! The installation tool for Cyclone Activator has been updated. The installation process and user interface has not changed, but you will find that it is much easier to use. The server side has also been upgraded.

You can download this installer at any time from the DHL Cyclone Site.

As always, please use me as your main DHL Express IT contact for support at any time.

Thank you,

--

Lisa Blade

3PV Systems Integration Manager

DHL Express

1144 W. Washington St.

Tempe, AZ 85281

United States of America

Phone: +1 480 636-2182

Mobile: +1 480 686-4158

Fax: +1 480 636-2025

lisa.blade@

Skype: lisa.dhl



Installing Cyclone Activator on 64 bit Windows

Cyclone Activator has been installed and tested on all versions of 32 and 64 bit Windows operating systems released after Windows 98. Basically, any windows OS that has support for services will work.

Sometimes it’s necessary to install the tool by using “Run As Administrator” on 64 bit Windows.

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You can also right click on the installer and go to “run as administrator”.

Installing Cyclone Activator

Note that when you run the installer, a command window will appear. This is the server that opens the local port that your browser will be connecting to. Should you have an issue where the browser states “page cannot be displayed” it’s likely that the command window was closed for some reason, usually. Rebooting has usually fixed this for me, otherwise it was something like MacAfee or Norton.

[pic]

If a proxy is required, a page requesting the info will appear. Fill out the form. The contact information at the bottom is irrelevant.

[pic]

This means someone did not create a mailbox for the customer, or you have mistyped the unit ID number.

Check the unit ID number, if it is correct, contact DHL. You can continue the install, but ensure you make contacting DHL a priority.

Hit OK then FINISH again.

[pic]

This means the company name you entered is different than the one that is on the mailbox.

This is only a problem if the organization shown is not the customer. If you’re off by a period, a space or something trivial, hit OK then FINISH again.

[pic]

|[pic] | |

| | |

| |Creating your profile and self-signed certificate |

| |Trying to send a message to cyclone-eu-prod. |

| |Trading profiles and certificates with DHL |

| |Unpacking application |

| |Checking data ports for availability |

| |Installing application |

| |Importing own profile and certificate |

| |Importing DHL’s profile and certificate |

| |Changing data setting to async |

| |Creating C:\3PVICS\cyclone_(up and down)load_area |

| |Alert Cyclone Server to load profile and certificate |

| |Installing ECEngine as a service |

Now you’re ready to start testing.

Diagnostics and Testing

Cyclone comes with a few utilities to help troubleshoot the program. The biggest thing to understand is that the implementation DHL has for Cyclone has far surpassed the original purpose of the application, so there will be a lot of things that just do not work or are not used.

|[pic] |All of these applications are available in C:\CycloneActivator\bin. They are each launched with a batch file. |

| | |

| |In Summary: |

| | |

| |Administrator: Used to look at profiles and certificates, verify cyclone server address and change the in and |

| |out directories |

| |Start Server: Used to start Cyclone as an application. This would be in lieu of starting ECEngine , which is |

| |Cyclone as a service |

| |Stop Server: Needed to stop Cyclone gracefully, before stopping the ECEngine service |

| |Tracker: A gui interface to view the log file |

| |View Server Log: A tail of the most recent log file |

| | |

| |The best way to test if Cyclone is working is to follow these steps: |

| |Open View Server Log |

| |If there are error messages, troubleshoot |

| |If it closes right away, that means that ECEngine has never run to create server.log. It’s likely that ECEngine |

| |cannot start or is not installed |

| |Open the folder that cyclone uses as an upload area and create a text file. |

| | |

| |[pic] |

1. Wait for the file to disappear while watching the server log.

2. A successful send will eventually look like this

[pic]

a. NEW:PACKAGER – Packager queue polls every 30 seconds. Found a new file. Moved it to the temp work directory

b. PACKAGED:PARTNER – zipped, signed and wrapped the file and put it into the send queue

c. SENT – The send queue polls every 15 seconds

d. Here is where you would get an error, but after 20 minutes (or within 1 if you restart the server) you should see MDN RECEIVED: This is the confirmation that DHL got your message AND that you were able to receive a file using the web mailbox. This is the same method used to download rates and routes.

Reinstalling Cyclone

Cyclone can be moved to the new system as it is portable. Use the following steps.

OLD SYSTEM:

1. Go to c:\CycloneActivator\bin\StopServer.bat and double click. Wait about a minute.

2. Open the systems control panel by going to start, run and type “services.msc” and click ok.

3. Find “ECEngine” right click on it and go to “stop”. Close the control panel.

4. Navigate to c:\ and move the \CycloneActivator folder to the new computer however way you can. Ensure that you delete or move the \CycloneActivator folder from its original location.

NEW SYSTEM:

1. Move the \CycloneActivator folder to the root of c:\. NOTE the folder must be in the same location it was on the old system. If you need it to be in a different path on the new system, such as another drive, we will need to reinstall it, which means you will need to call me.

2. Go to start, run and type “cmd” and click ok.

3. Navigate to c:\cycloneactivator\util\ntservice

4. Type in “ECEngine –I” (I as in Ice) It should state that the NT service has been installed.

5. Open the systems control panel by going to start, run and type “services.msc” and click ok.

6. Find “ECEngine” right click on it and go to “start”. Close the control panel and email me so I can verify that everything is working.

Reinstalling is not recommended. Think of running the “installer” or as we call it “ramp tool” for Cyclone is more than just installing a program, it is a registration linking your system to ours. Your registration must be uninstalled on the DHL server if you need to reinstall.

Graceful shutdown of ECEngine

There is a "best practices" method of gracefully stopping the Cyclone 4.2.x Server when it has been started as a Windows Service. Most users go into the Services applet and issue the Stop command to the ECEngine service. That does indeed kill the Cyclone Server by means of killing the Windows Service which invoked the Cyclone Server, but it does so without the benefit of issuing a graceful shutdown command to the Cyclone Server. The telltale sign of this is in the server.log there is no entry for a shutdown command prior to the next instance of a Cyclone Server startup initialization sequence.

Sometimes a consequence of this kind of abnormal shutdown is that it might take several attempts to get the Cyclone Server to start back up again. In a worst case scenario, Cyclone's database can actually become corrupted. The most common thing that is found is that dbeng6 does not close, and a new instance is respawned every time ECEngine is restarted, resulting in several running instances of dbeng6.

Here's the best practice for stopping your Cyclone Server. Use the Start > Programs > Cyclone Activator > Stop Server icon. Or use its equivalent StopServer.bat file in Cyclone's bin directory. Either of those means will issue the graceful shutdown command to the Cyclone Server. Then go into the Windows Services applet and issue a Stop command for the ECEngine service itself.

You only need a one-step graceful startup of the Cyclone Server by issuing a Start command to the ECEngine Service. But you need to perform a two-step graceful shutdown of the Cyclone Server itself followed by a Stop of the ECEngine Service.

Now let me merge the above background information into commands you can issue from a DOS prompt.

From a command line, to achieve the two-step graceful shutdown of the Cyclone Server, please type the following commands:

Stops the server

c:\CycloneActivator\bin\StopServer.bat

--(wait or "sleep" for two minutes)

ping -n 121 127.0.0.1 >nul

--Stop the service

net stop ecengine

Thereafter, when you are ready to restart the Cyclone Server via its ECEngine Windows Service you only need to issue the following one command:

net start ecengine

As you probably know, you can place these commands scheduled tasks to be executed automatically without manual intervention.

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