How the new Live Service feature runs in CBAS 20

When you install CBAS20, a new Windows service called Computrols Live Service is installed and any previous Computrols services are uninstalled as they are no longer needed.

The Computrols Live Service replaces:

• Email Service
• Logger Service
• Support Service

If you are not familiar with these types of programs, a Windows service runs automatically in the background and you don’t see it on the Taskbar or in the Systray. The only way to see it running is to open Task Manager. You can do that by typing the name in the Windows Search field and clicking it on the list. Once it opens, go to the Services tab, click the header of the Name column to place the list in alphabetical order, then scroll down to Computrols Live Service. The Status column shows whether the service is Running or Stopped.

Emailer

Prior versions of CBAS required a 3rd party email provider along with other services and various configuration steps to configure email alarms – with Computrols Live Service, those steps have been eliminated and you simply program alarms in CBAS as desired – refer to the CBAS Manual for help.

When CBAS20 generates an email text file, it’s placed in C:\CBAS20\Email\Unsent and within 15 seconds the Live Service sends it out. A copy of the message is then stored  to the Email\Sent folder. If the email is unable to be sent, it goes to the Email\Error Sending folder. If the Computrols Live service is not running, the message  will stay in the Unsent folder. Looking at the contents of these folders can help identify the problem if you are not getting your emails.

Error Logging

Error Logging is used by Technical Support to help with troubleshooting problems with CBAS. If you report a problem, you might be asked to provide logs from around the time of the problem. Entries are made line by line in text files located in CBAS20\ErrLogs folder. The text files are sorted into folders by year > month. A new file is started daily or every time CBAS is restarted.

Web Weather

The Computrols Live Service retrieves weather data from NOAA based on your zip code for use in the CBAS Web Weather Points. 

When you install CBAS 20, it asks you for your zip code and saves it in a config file. If you are using Web Weather Points and you’re getting incorrect info, you might need to edit your zip code. To fix this, you can open the CBASsupport.cfg file as a text file and change the zip code. Then save the changes and close. Restart the Computrols Live Service using Task Manager to load the new zip code information.