Configuring ChronoAgent.
You can find ChronoAgent in the System Preferences, under “Other”. The system preference pane has 3 tabs. The “License” and “About” panels are self-explanatory. The "Settings" tab contains all of the controls for setting up the agent.
ChronoAgent settings are protected and can only be modified with admin access. The padlock icon needs to be clicked to allow such changes to be made. All settings need to be established before the agent can be turned ON. Otherwise, "START"ing the agent will not be allowed. The required settings are Name, Port number, Username and Password.
Step 1. Give a name to the agent.
The "Identify agent with name" field allows you to provide a name that will be broadcast on the
local network. Other computers running ChronoSync will identify this particular agent by the
name provided. The default is "ChronoAgent@computername", but it should probably be
changed to something more descriptive such as "Receptionist", "Bob's Laptop" or "Central
Server". A unique name must be chosen, i.e. two ChronoAgents cannot have the same name.
Step 2. Provide a port number.
The port number is the TCP port number that will be used for all agent communications. Specifying "0" instructs ChronoAgent to choose an available port, and this is the default (the number it
chooses will appear after you turn the agent ON). Leaving the
port number field 0 or blank and thus having ChronoAgent
choose one, is perfectly acceptable for the majority of people.
If you are running a port-level firewall (such as provided in
Panther/Tiger) you will need to specify a port.
Advanced User Tip: If you want to assign a fixed port number to ChronoAgent, pick somewhere in the middle of the Private/Dynamic Port Number Ranges to prevent conflicting with
other services that may be picking from this range. If the network firewall is enabled, you will
have to choose a port number that isn't blocked or, more likely, open that port up in the firewall
settings. Using port numbers within the range of 49,152 - 65,535 is recommended, as they are not
considered reserved numbers.
The steps to opening firewall ports differ between Leopard and Panther/Tiger. If you are using a
firewall and need to open up a particular port and/or want to make ChronoAgent available to
computers outside of the local network, it is suggested that you pick your own port number, such
as "54000", rather than letting ChronoAgent choose one automatically. Otherwise, it is perfectly
fine to let ChronoAgent pick the port number.
Step 3. Supply a username and password.
The username and password fields simply define a unique username/password that needs to be specified when ChronoSync attempts to connect to this agent. You should choose something reasonably secure and protect its confidentiality because an agent connection provides full access to
all files on the computer.
Step 4. Start the Agent.
Click the “Start” button to activate the ChronoAgent.
"Require secure connections" requires all connections between copies of ChronoSync and this agent to
have all transfered data encrypted. With this setting OFF (unchecked), secure connections can still be established but they are at the discretion of the ChronoSync user when they enter their agent connection
settings. Turning this setting ON will require all connections to be secure. This is true even if the ChronoSync user establishes a connection to this agent without enabling the "Use secure connections" setting.
Also worth noting is that secure connections perform slower than non-secure connections, so if ChronoSync and ChronoAgent are running on the same local network, and that network is considered closed,
secure and trusted, this setting does not need to be enabled.
Once the ChronoAgent has been configured, a connection can be established by defining connection profiles. This is done in ChronoSync's "Connections" preference pane. Once a connection profile has been
defined, its name will appear in the "Connect to:" popup menu in the left and right target areas of ChronoSync's Setup panel. ChronoSync can be configured to connect to any number of ChronoAgents.
That's it!
If you have any problems while using our products, contact us by using our support form. If you wish to share a tip with us, post it on our comment form. Happy Syncing!