This article applies to NetSupport School version 15.00. For information relating to version 14.00 and below, click here.
Within NetSupport School, it is possible to apply security settings to prevent unwanted users from accessing the Tutor Console or connecting to Student machines. This article provides various ways for you to secure access to the Tutor Console and the Students.
These settings can be applied either locally or via Active Directory Group Policy.
Option 1 – Security key:
To prevent anyone but the required teachers from connecting to Student machines, you can set a security key on all Student machines and Tutors. This security key is a password of your choosing. Only Tutor Consoles with a matching security key as the Students will be permitted to connect.
Local configuration for Students and Tutors:
Students:
- Open the NetSupport School Client Configurator.
- Select Security and click Security Key.
- Enter the plain text value of the security key. Click OK. The encrypted value will appear in the field.
- Click OK again to save the configuration.
This will save the settings in the Client32u.ini file. You can then deploy the Client32u.ini to all Student machines.
Tutor:
- Click Options in the Tutor Console and select Network Settings from the drop-down menu.
- Select Administration– Security.
- In the Options section, click Set under the option Security Key and enter the plain text value of the security key. Click OK. The encrypted value will appear in the field.
Configuration via Active Directory Group Policy for Students and Tutors:
We recommend applying the security key setting as a Global Computer Policy for all Student machines. For the teachers, we recommend you set a Global User policy to only apply to teachers’ accounts. That way, only known teachers’ accounts can connect to the Students.
To use the Group Policy to set the settings, you first need to apply the ADMX Template files to your Domain controller. Please refer to the following technical article: How to apply the NetSupport School ADMX files.
Once done, open the Group Policy Management Console on your Domain controller and navigate to the following setting locations:
Note: For both policies, you will need to enter the ENCRYPTED value of the security key in the Group Policy.
For the Student: The policy can be found under Computer Configuration| Administrative Templates| NetSupport Student Settings| Security.
The policy is called Security Key (v12.50 and later students) and needs to be set to ENABLED.
You will find the encrypted value either in the NetSupport School Configurator Security tab or in the Client32u.ini under the [Client] section under SecurityKeyU=.
For the Tutor: The policy can be found under User Configurations| Administrative Templates| NSS Tutor Settings| Security| Options.
The setting is called Security Key and needs to be set to ENABLED.
You will find the encrypted value of the security key in the Tutor Console in the {School}{Configuration}{Administration – Security} option.
Option 2 – Applying a password to access the Tutor Console:
You can choose to protect the Tutor Console access with a password that only the teachers will know.
Local configuration:
- Click Options in the Tutor Console and select Network Settings from the drop-down menu.
- Select Administration– Security.
- In the Options section, click Set under the option Password.
- Enter a password of your choice (twice for accuracy) and click OK. An encrypted value will appear in the Password field.
- Click Yes when prompted to restart the Tutor Console.
To confirm the password is correct, close the Tutor Console and reopen it. You should be prompted to enter the password that has just been set. Enter it and confirm that you can then access the interface.
Configuration via Active Directory Group Policy:
Note: You can apply the following setting policy to the Users or the Machines.
The setting can be found in Administrative Templates| NSS Tutor Settings| Security| Options.
The policy is called Tutor Password (v12.50 and later controls) and needs to be set to ENABLED.
Under Options, add the encrypted value from the password.
You will find the encrypted value either in the Tutor Console in {School}{Configuration}{Administration – Security} under Password or in the machine’s registry under:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\NetSupport Ltd\PCICTL\ConfigList\NetSupport School.
The value to copy is under General\Passwordu.
Option 3 – Restrict access to the Tutor Console on Student machines
If both the Student and Tutor components have been installed on the same machines, you need to restrict access to the Tutor Console on the machines the students have access to.
This can only be set via Active Directory Group Policy.
Configuration via Active Directory Group Policy:
Note: We recommend you apply the following setting policy to the Users rather than the Machines.
You can apply this setting to all users OU who are not allowed to use the Tutor Console to connect to Students.
The setting can be found in Administrative Templates| NSS Tutor Settings| Security| Options.
The policy is called Disable Access to Tutor Interface and needs to be set to ENABLED.
Under Options, select the option Disable Access to Tutor Interface.