Is anyone using RoboServer 9 on Microsoft Windows Azure?

[JewelyaZ2]

Paul at the pre-sales support line (800-833-6687) assured me that it would work fine, but I've seen no proof anywhere on the internet... and the Adobe.com searches he recommended don't help either.

Here's the environment:

12 writers publishing using RoboHelp 10

A big development team writing an application that runs on Microsoft SharePoint, hosted on Microsoft Azure

Currently, I'm publishing regular Web Help and packaging it with the software releases, but that means update timing is unpredictable and out of my control. I would like the near-instant updating of help and would like to use the more modern FlashHelp Pro format.

I am also intrigued about the possibility of being able to co-locate username/password-protected help staging areas; that would be a big help to us as so many of our content contributors are not located in our office.

We do want to restrict the primary help content to authenticated users of our software product; this could be done through:

- Windows credentials (OK)

- SharePoint permissions (ideal, since that's how the application itself is managed)

- RoboServer user accounts (unacceptable)

The application is based on SharePoint 2010, Word 2010, and IE9, though it should also work in IE10 (I know that there are some RoboHelp 10 bugs to address for IE10. but my writers have applied these patches).

Any real-world experience, good or bad, would be very much appreciated. I don't want to put my company through a big procurement exercise on the word of one pre-sales support guy without other evidence from folks making it work in the real world. 🙂

Thanks,

Julia

[johndaigle]

I'll try to address your latest post and see if the Forum team can move your original to this RoboHelp Server forum so folks who follow later won't get confused.

1. Unfortunately I'm unfamiliar (as of yet!) of Azure.
2. Regardless of which way you go, FlashHelp Pro can use the exact same skins as FlashHelp and vice versa. They are the same.
3. Yes the Areas concept and capability is a really cool feature which everyone seems to like a lot (e.g., Development, QA, Production, SMEs, etc.)
4. It would seem Windows Credentials would certainly work, because RoboHelp Server 9 does support LDAP directory for authentication

In my (and my client's) experience, Rh Server works very well. Usually the issues that arise are because the IT folks may not understand the order in which to install the various parts and check the OS/DB compatibility chart I referred to. Proper installation and configuration is key. Plus, let's face it. Any kind of "server" application environment has a lot of moving parts (The OS, The Database, The Application, The Authoring Tool, The Browser, etc.). Nothing succeeds like a carefully installed system and plan.

BTW, while the application is on SharePoint, that does not prevent the online help from being called externally. On the other hand, because you are a SharePoint-centric shop, perhaps everyone would be more comfortable with an all-SharePoint environment? Kind of a cultural thing. Of course then you lose the reports and other cool things.

You certainly want to set up a trial with Rh Server to make sure it addresses your expectations and that your whole team is supportive before launching live.

John Daigle

Adobe Certified RoboHelp and Captivate Instructor

Evergreen, Colorado

www.showmethedemo.com

[Bernadino50]

At the moment, we are using RoboHelp 10 and RoboHelp Server 9 to publish WebHelp Pro content to a secure, corporate server, which is then accessible from one of our applications that resides on Azure. We are in the process of also moving the Help content to Azure, utilizing an Azure hosted VM using Microsoft's Hyper-V technology. We don't anticipate any problems with this. The biggest problem we've encountered is related to the ability to integrate RoboHelp Server with our product's secure sign on functionality. This is the one area where my engineers are pretty disgusted with RoboHelp Server. Hope this helps.

[VikramGaur]

Hello,

Welcome to Adobe Forums.

For Robohelp Server 9 authentication you can use the username & password (Defined in Configuration Manager for every context)

OR

You can integrate LDAP of Windows Active Directory with Robohelp Server 9, LDAP Settings : http://help.adobe.com/en_US/RoboHelp/9.0/RoboEngine/WSbe3e657580667f1424261c512bc9ab6cac-8000.html

For Configuration Manager queries, this blog will help : http://blogs.adobe.com/techcomm/2011/02/enhanced-config-mgr.html

Thanks,

Vikram

Adobe Support