1. Perception 5.7 Install Guide
  2. Creating a multi-tiered (custom) environment
  3. Set up File Upload questions in a multi-tiered installation

Set up File Upload questions in a multi-tiered installation

Applies to the following products: 
Questionmark Perception
Applies to the following Perception versions: 
Perception 5.7

If you have installed Perception in a multi-tiered environment and plan on using the File Upload question type, you will need to make several modifications to servers where Perception in installed so that the Assessment Delivery Web Server (QPLA) can write File Upload questions to the Perception Application Server.

On the Assessment Delivery Web Server, you will need to:

On the Assessment Delivery Web Server...

The final step involves updating the File Upload folder setting.

On the Assessment Delivery Web Server...

Creating a user

To create a user on the Assessment Delivery Web Server server:

  1. Click Start and type compmgmt.msc (Computer Management) in the search box
  1. Navigate to Local Users and Groups | Users

  2. Click Action | New User...
  3. Enter a user name (e.g., fileuploaduser) and a password

  4. Uncheck User must change password at next logon
  5. Check Password never expires
  6. Click Create
  7. Right-click the user you just created and click Properties
  8. Select the Member Of tab
  9. Click Add and then click Advanced
  10. Click Find Now

  11. Find and select IIS_IUSRS and click OK.
  12. Click OK again in the Select Groups window
  13. If the Users group appears in the list of assigned groups, select it and click Remove
  14. Click OK

Assigning the user Full Control in IIS

To assign the user in IIS:

  1. Start IIS 7
  2. Right click on the Default Web Site and click Edit Permissions…

  3. Select the Security tab
  4. Click Edit
  5. Click Add
  6. Click Advanced
  7. Click Find Now
  8. Select the user you created above (e.g., fileuploaduser) and click OK
  9. Click OK again. If on a domain, you may be asked to enter the valid user name and password.
  10. In the Permissions window, make sure Full Control is enabled in the Allow column

  11. Click OK and exit IIS 7

Connecting as the new user

You also need to make sure that your new user is used when connecting to (by default) the /perception5 virtual directory.  To do this:

  1. Start IIS 7
  2. Locate the perception5 site (this may be a dedicated site to perception5 or it may be a parent site, like Default Web Site)
  3. Click Basic Settings... from the Action menu on the right
  4. Click Connect as...

  5. Choose the Specific user: option
  6. Click Set...
  7. Enter the user name and the password for the user you created above (e.g., fileuploaduser)
  8. Click OK
  9. Click OK again and exit IIS 7

On the Perception Application Server...

Creating another user

To create a user on the Perception Application Server:

  1. Click Start and type compmgmt.msc (Computer Management) in the search box
  1. Navigate to Local Users and Groups | Users

  2. Click Action | New User...
  3. Enter user name (e.g., fileuploaduser) and a password

  4. Uncheck User must change password at next logon
  5. Check Password never expires
  6. Click Create
  7. Right-click the user you just created and click Properties
  8. Select the Member Of tab
  9. Click Add and then click Advanced
  10. Click Find Now

  11. Find and select IIS_IUSRS and click OK.
  12. Click OK again in the Select Groups window
  13. If the Users group appears in the list of assigned groups, select it and click Remove
  14. Click OK

Creating a folder share for the fileuploads folder

You will need to ensure that the fileuploads folder is shared appropriately and that the members of the IIS_IUSRS group can contribute (write) to the folder. This folder share will be used by the Assessment Delivery Web Server to place any files uploaded in a File Upload question on to the Perception Application Server. If you installed Perception to the default location, the File Upload folder will be in the following location, otherwise please check where you installed the Repository Support files:

C:\Perception5\Repositories\shared\<MyRepository>

...where <MyRepository> is the name of your repository.

In this folder, a fileuploads folder will exist.

To create a file share for this folder, follow the instructions below:

  1. Right-click on the fileuploads folder and select Share...
  2. In the texbox, enter the name of the user you created (e.g., fileuploaduser) and click Add
  3. For the Permissions Level, select Contributor (in Windows Server 2008 R2, the option will be Read/Write rather than Contributor)

  4. Click Share

  5. A page will appear that provides details about the folder share. Click Done.

You have now created a folder share for the fileupload folder. The folder share can be accessed using a UNC name, such as:

\\<QABS_SERVER>\fileuploads

...where <QABS_Server> is the name of the server hosting the Perception Application Server.

You should try navigating to the above folder share from the Assessment Delivery Web Server to ensure the folder share works.

Updating the File Upload folder setting

Once you have created the folder share for the fileupload folder, you need to ensure that the Assessment Delivery Web Server knows where it is. This can be done by completing the steps below:

  1. Login to Enterprise Manager on the Perception Application Server using the default administrator user name and password

    The default address to login to Enterprise Manager is:

    http://<QABS_SERVER>/em5/Login.asp

    ...where <QABS_SERVER> is the valid domain name or server name of your Perception Application Server as configured in Step 1: Installing Perception Application Server.

  2. Navigate to the Server Settings page by clicking System Administration | Server Management | Server Settings

  3. Locate the File Upload folder setting in the Questionmark Presentation Layer for Assessments section of the page

    There are two File Upload folder settings on the Server Settings page. The first File Upload folder setting in the Folder section of the page is used by the Scoring Tool and reports. It does not need to be changed for File Upload questions to work. Only the second File Upload folder setting in the Questionmark Presentation Layer for Assessments section should be changed to point to the folder share on your Perception Application Server.

  4. Change this to something similar to \\<QABS_SERVER>\fileuploads, as created in the section above

  5. Click Save and Exit