SilverSHielD "Pro" licenses are tied to the hardware and they must be validated by our online license server upon activation.

So how can you install a "Pro" license onto a SilverSHielD Server that doesn't have any access to the Internet?

It's fairly easy, just install the SilverSHielD Management Console onto another computer that can see (connect to) both the offline SilverSHielD Server and the Internet at the same time. See the picture below for a visual explanation.

SilverSHielD is designed in such a way that the Server part doesn't necessarily have to have Internet access, only its Management Console has to.

If you are a WebDrive user, you may have experienced problems connecting to your SilverSHielD server.

Seems like WebDrive tries to use compression in the authentication phase, even when compression is not enabled in the specific WebDrive's SFTP profile.

So, in order to solve this strange situation, the only thing you can do is enabling Z-Compression on your SilverSHielD server. Doing so will allow WebDrive to connect without any difficulty.

Depending on the operating system, you can find your SilverSHielD configuration files in different locations (by default).

If you're running Windows XP or 2003 they are in:

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SilverSHielD\

If you're running Windows Vista, 2008 or 7 they are in:

C:\ProgramData\SilverSHielD\

Folders displayed above in purple are usually hidden by the operating system, in order to see them you have to configure your Windows Explorer so that it displays hidden files and folders.

The license-key format in version 3.x has been changed. So, if you wish to upgrade to version 3.x (or higher) you have to obtain a new license code. Don't worry, you've already paid when you have registered the Pro edition, and your subscription is valid lifetime, so this upgrade IS FREE.

In order to get your new license, please, contact us through the contact form on our web site.

Be aware that if you upgrade from v1.x/v2.x to version 3.x (or higher) without obtaining a new license code from us, SilverSHielD will revert to Free edition, thus with the limitation of only 1 (one) client connection.

Some users have reported that in certain conditions it is impossible to reconnect to a SilverSHielD server after an abnormal client disconnection. Up to version 2.2.3.88 there was a bug that prevented SilverSHielD to handle abnormal client disconnections properly.

This was particularly apparent in the Free version of SilverSHielD because it's limited to a single client connection and thus, when such client connection gets "broken", no more clients were allowed to connect and - de facto - SilverSHielD stopped working.

Anyway such strange behavior happened only when a client suddenly disconnected without sending the proper command to close the SSH channel (as it is supposed to do).

EASY FIX: update/upgrade SilverSHielD to the latest version will solve the issue (actually fixed in 2.2.4.89).

Here's a brief, illustrated walkthrough to jumpstart SilverSHielD administrator who need to create users that can perform public key authentication.

Question:

Can I safely update/upgrade SIlverSHielD to the latest version or will I lose my users and configuration?

Answer:

The SilverSHielD installer (both Free and Pro version) will not overwrite your current configuration and user database, thus it's always safe to update/upgrade to the latest version.

At the same time, best practices suggest to backup any software configuration before performing an update/upgrade. SilverSHielD stores its configuration under a system-defined folder known as %COMMONAPPDATA%.

Such folder has changed its default location in the latest versions of the Windows operating system, so:

In Windows XP and 2003 it's usually

C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data

In Windows Vista, 2008 and 7 it's usually

C:\ProgramData

The SilverSHielD configuration, server key, logs and user database are located inside a "SilverSHielD" folder under the above mentioned system folder.

Question:

What is the maximum number of connections the Pro version can support?

Answer:

There’s no hardcoded limit to the maximum number of clients for the Pro version, of course it depends on your hardware and network conditions.

Some users have reported that they cannot connect to the SilverSHielD server after upgrading it to the latest version. The error reported is Error number 3 (SSH_DISCONNECT_KEY_EXCHANGE_FAILED) or number 102 (unknown error).

EASY FIX: Just upgrade to v2.2.3.88 or higher, it handles such issue automatically. Otherwise, please read on...

In such cases the log file shows something like (similar to) this:

2011-05-25 13:02:32 Client connection from [XX.XX.XXX.XX] established
2011-05-25 13:02:33 [0000059k] >>>>> Error 3
2011-05-25 13:02:33 [0000059k] SSH connection closed
2011-05-25 13:02:33 NTC (0)
2011-05-25 13:02:33 [0000059k] server thread terminated

Such error is related to Z-Compression. If that happens it means that the client you're using does not support Z-Compression or it does not support the same version of the compression algorithm used by SilverSHielD.

To fix the problem, just open the SilverSHielD Management Console, disable Z-Compression and save the configuration.

By design SilverSHielD only accepts local folders (folders located in local logical volumes) as user's root folder.

Thus, for example:

• D:\MySFTP\MyUserData is a valid root folder
• \\sftpdata.mycompany.loc\MyUserData is not a valid root folder

Some users have reported the need to map SilverSHielD users' root folders to a shared folder located elsewhere on the network (for example on a file server, a NAS or a SAN).

In order to make it possible, the operating system onto which SilverSHielD is installed/running must see such shared folders as local drives. Thus a normal "net use" command will not work for the purpose.

One solution is to map the remote resource as a local hard drive using the iSCSI protocol. In fact, as of Windows XP, the iSCSI initiator is free and can be installed as part of the operating system itself. Once mapped as a local drive, the remote resource can be used as SilverSHielD users' root folder by using the local "drive letter" associated to it by the iSCSI Initiator.