Troubleshooting ALEPH FCLA Homepage

What to do if…

…The FCLA Library Services Status page indicates your institution’s Aleph staff client server is unavailable:

Circulation staff should use the Offline Circulation function included in the Circulation module. This function records patron and item information for loans and returns in a text file on the local PC, to be uploaded to the server when access is restored.

To access the Offline Circulation module, open the Aleph Circulation client. Click on the “Circulation” menu in the center of the menu bar at the top of the screen, and select “Offline Circulation.” For each transaction, select whether it is a Loan or Return; then scan the patron or item barcode as usual and click the Loan or Return button as appropriate.

Complete instructions regarding the Aleph Offline Circulation function are available at Offline Circulation.

All other staff functions (Technical Services) will remain unavailable during short-term Aleph outages. If the outage is expected to last more than 3 days, FCLA may make the decision to switch to the backup server for use as the Production machine. Should this occur, staff will be notified but no change will be necessary for the Aleph GUI client.

Please note: if the Status page indicates there is a known outage for the Aleph client on the FCLA server, FCLA staff has been notified.

If the status page does NOT indicate a problem, but you continue to be unable to use the Aleph client, follow the appropriate reporting mechanism listed in the Problem Reporting Hierarchy.

…The FCLA Library Services Status page indicates your institution’s Aleph OPAC server is unavailable:

At all times, the Aleph Reporting region OPAC is available at xx.arept.fcla.edu (where “xx” is your institution code, e.g. fs, cf, etc.). For short-term outages (under 1 hour), you may direct patrons to this alternate URL for searching until such time as the Production OPAC becomes available. Patron empowerment features will NOT be available.

If FCLA anticipates the OPAC outage to last more than 1 hour, we will make a DNS change to the standard OPAC URL (xx.aleph.fcla.edu) to redirect patrons to the Reporting region OPAC. This will ensure a transparent switch to the backup server, so that links incorporated into library web pages, etc. will work for patrons. Patron empowerment features will NOT be available.

If the outage is expected to last more than 3 days, FCLA may make the decision to switch to the backup server for use as the Production machine. Should this occur, patron empowerment features will be enabled. No changes will be necessary on the library’s part.

Please note: if the Status page indicates there is a known outage for the Aleph client on the FCLA server, FCLA staff has been notified.

If the status page does NOT indicate a problem, but you continue to be unable to use the Aleph client, follow the appropriate reporting mechanism listed in the Problem Reporting Hierarchy.

…Your institution’s Status page indicates the Aleph GUI (staff) client server is up, but you still can’t connect:

Scenario 1: Error in Username or Password, followed by a pop-up message “Password not verified on connectable hosts.”

Scenario 2: You got past the login, and now see the popup “Could not login to Aleph. Start application anyway?”

First, select “No” and try logging in again, following the steps listed under Scenario 1.

If this fails and you are returned to the popup “Could not login to Aleph…”, select Yes and open the Aleph client. Once in the Aleph client, go to the ALEPH menu (in Circ) or File menu (all other modules), -> Connect To and select your institution. If you put in your userid and password and the client can connect, you will see “connected to server” appear at the bottom of the screen.

If you did NOT put in a userid and password, or entered one that is invalid, you will see a popup message “Username NONE is invalid” (or whatever username you entered). To enter your username and password, right-click on the key icon in the bottom right-hand side of the screen, and select Login as Another User. From here, you can try logging in again.

Scenario 3: You logged in successfully, but once the client is opened you receive a popup message “Failed to Read Reply.”

This message means the client is not receiving responses from the server. First, try reconnecting to the server via the method described in Scenario 2.

Check that you are attempting to connect using the correct Aleph Production client as described in Scenario 1.

Scenario 4: You’ve tried everything above, but you still can’t connect.

Circulation staff should use the Offline Circulation client as described above.

Check other applications, such as un-cached websites, to determine if your institution’s network is connected to the Internet. If your institution’s Internet connection is down, report the problem to your local Systems department following your internal procedures.

If you continue to be unable to use the Aleph client, follow the appropriate reporting mechanism listed in the Problem Reporting Hierarchy.

The Web OPAC is down …

Scenario 1: You click on your library’s or other link to the Aleph Web OPAC, and are unable to connect.

As with the Aleph staff client, first check that the correct URL is being accessed (http://xx.aleph.fcla.edu , where xx represents the institution code).

Scenario 2: You have verified that the correct OPAC URL is being accessed, but continue to receive an error.

At all times, the Aleph Reporting region OPAC is available at xx.arept.fcla.edu (where “xx” is your institution code, e.g. fs, cf, etc.). You may direct patrons to this alternate URL for searching until such time as the Production OPAC becomes available. Patron empowerment features will NOT be available.

Check other un-cached websites to determine if it is a local institutional network outage. If you determine your institution’s local Internet connection is down, report the problem to your local Systems department following your internal procedures.

If you continue to be unable to use the Aleph OPAC, follow the appropriate reporting mechanism listed in the Problem Reporting Hierarchy.


 
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