If you opt to use Active Directory for logging into Clarity, there are a few things to review so you understand how this is set up and what we are looking for when we check against the users Active Directory credentials.

When logging into the Web Portal you will not use your email address, you will use your Active Directory credentials

We cannot reset your password, so that link on this login page will not work with this type of login

There are two places Active Directory integration is configured, one to add/update users to the web portal and one

You can set recovery options on the Clarity services so that they automatically restart if they stop.

The Clarity Services on the host and the Clarity Windows Task Server, will need their properties modified to Automatically restart if the service stops, otherwise someone will need to log onto the machine and manually restart them.

The Host services:

• Clarity Monitoring Service
• Clarity Active Directory Synch
• Clarity Journaling Service

The Task Server service

• Clarity Windows Task Server

How to Set the Service Properties

In the Services dialog, select the Clarity Service, right-click and select Properties.  In the example I am showing the

If you have annual licenses in Clarity, the license start and end dates are tied to your subscription start and end dates.

The license will start on your subscription start date and end a year and 10 days later.  There is a 10 day grace period built in which allows you time to renew your subscription and get a new authcode and license in place without a lapse in service.

When a new version of Clarity comes out, your assets are automatically updated in our system to that version of Clarity.

That doesn’t change anything on your system, but if

Forbidden Characters

As a rule, all of the symbols below should be avoided, in both file names and folder names to reduce the likelihood of issues in various environments.  An underscore _ as a separator is always acceptable.

The table below shows what and where a symbol not allowed (No) or is allowed (Yes) or not specifically listed as not allowed.

• Don’t add a space at the beginning or end of a file or folder name. 
• Use less than 260 characters in file or folder paths, 245 for Egnyte.

Current Clarity version at this posting:  2024.1.2

2/9/2024

The RandRevit database is the core of everything in Clarity, including projects, tasks, and more.

There is an option in the Clarity Server Settings to automatically backup the RandRevit database weekly to the backup location specified in settings.

Why you might need to backup the database

• You need to make changes to the database
• You need to send it to development to look over
• Disaster recovery
• Server migration

What you will need:

• Remote Access to the machine where the database lives (typically the same as your Clarity Host).
• Be able to sign in with your Clarity Service account (or perhaps the

If you changed the password to the account you use to run your Clarity services, this will stop Clarity from functioning properly until the password is updated in all locations it is used.

Host

On the Host this identity is generally used for the following:

IIS

• ClarityReportingAppPool
• ClarityWebAppPool
• ClarityWebServicesAppPool

To Update

• Right Click and select Advanced Settings
• Select Identity, then the ...
•       
• Select Set
•      
• Enter the Domain\Username, then password and confirm.
• Start the Application Pool
• Repeat for the other two.

Services

• Monitoring Service
• Clarity AD Sync Service

To update

• Right click and select Properties

When troubleshooting issues in Clarity, diagnostics tell us where to look to resolve the issues.  The diagnostics come from different places depending on where the issue is occurring.

Diagnostics roll over pretty quickly, the more projects/tasks, the faster they roll over. 

Please send in the diagnostics as close to time the issue occurred, or recreate the issue/rerun the task, then send in the diagnostics.

If you are unable to create a case when sending in diagnostics from the web portal you can email the manually gathered diagnostics to support@rand.com

Task Issues

• If a task runs, but doesn't complete, we need

How does Daylight Savings Time affect Clarity?

For 2 hours per year (at least in the US) there are some odd Clarity issues. 

When Time Springs Forward

In the springtime, the clocks jump nearly instantly from 2am to 3am the night of Daylight savings time:

• Any tasks set for 2:00 "might" run (small chance)
• Any tasks set for 2:15, 2:30 or 2:45 will not run

When Time Falls Back

In the fall, the clocks jump from 3am back to 2am on the night of Daylight Savings Time:

• Any tasks set to 2:00 am, 2:15, 2:30, 2:45 or 3am may get

You want to know if you can enable FIPs on Clarity machines.

What is FIPS? FIPS stands for Federal Information Processing Standards These are standards and guidelines for federal computer systems that are developed by National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) in accordance with the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and approved by the Secretary of Commerce.

If you are working on government projects, this is something that will likely apply to you.

You can find out more about FIPS at the link below. https://www.nist.gov/standardsgov/compliance-faqs-federal-information-processing-standards-fips#2

Clarity General Information Clarity should sense that FIPS is enabled. This information will