Discussion Forums

The Latest...
Smedge has moved on. Now you can get the ease of use of Smedge 2 with the power of Smedge 3 in the new Smedge. Check out the Smedge Downloads page to download the updated Smedge for Windows, Mac, or Linux and get started right away.

See Robin's homepage.

Secrets and Security

• Feature Locking
• Client Locking
• Forced Job Settings
• License Broadcasting
• Startup Sound
• Check for Updates
• Confirm Exit
• Automatic Hyperthread checking

By default, Smedge allows full control of all Smedge functionality. However, sometimes you may want to limit the amount of control that some clients have. In Smedge number 22 or later, you can accomplish this through a set of registry settings that will lock out features.

The base registry key for these settings is:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Überware\Smedge\Security
Under this registry key you can create DWORD values to block certain features. Set the value to zero in order to block the feature, and one to allow it. If the value does not exist or cannot be read, Smedge will assume that feature to be allowed.

Obviously, this security is only as strong as the security to access this section of the Registry. You can password protect registry keys, and you will probably want to if you want to enhance this security, but be aware that it's not a foolproof system.

AbortPacket	Controls whether the client can access the Abort Packet and command.
ChangePool	Controls whether the client is allowed to change a job's pool after the job has already been submitted.
ChangePriority	Controls whether the client is allowed to change a job's priority after the job has already been submitted.
ChangeWait	Controls whether the client is allowed to change the job that another job is waiting for after the waiting job has already been submitted.
DeleteJob	Controls whether the client can delete a job after it has been submitted.
HostSettings	Controls whether the client can change any host settings. Acess to the host settings dialog and the shortcuts to toggle processor, enabled and time-restricted states are all included with this control.
KillPacket	Controls whether the client can access the Kill Packet and command.
PoolControl	Controls whether the client can create, modify or remove pools.
SendMessage	Controls whether the client can send instant messages.
SmedgeGlobals	Controls whether the client is allowed to change the Smedge Globals.
SubmitJob	Controls whether the client is allowed to submit new jobs
SuperExit	Controls whether the client can initiate a Super Exit request and shut down the whole system.
SuperRestart	Controls whether the client can initiate a Super Restart request and attempt to restart Smedge on the whole system

Note that you must create these registry keys by hand. There is no interface element that allows control of these values.

In the About Smedge... window, you can see the current status of your security settings. A green light means that this client is allowed to perform the action listed. If the light is off, the client will not be able to perform the requested action.

In Smedge 26 and later, you can now set the client to only allow it to control things on that client. To enable this, you need to manually set the following registry value:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Überware\Smedge\Security\
Create a DWORD value called ClientOnly and set the value to 1.

This value is read at Smedge startup. If you change this value, you will need to exit and restart Smedge on the client in order to read the change.

When the client is locked, it will only be able to affect local changes:

• You can submit jobs, but you can only modify or delete jobs that you have submitted.
• You can only abort or kill packets that are on your machine.
• You can only modify client settings for the local client.

Any additional feature level security as described above will also still affect the client.

You can also force some job settings to be at fixed values. You can force the Priority and the Pool with the following registry values, in this registry key:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Überware\Smedge\Security\

ForcePool	A DWORD value that will be used as the Priority of all jobs created on this client.
ForcePriority	A DWORD value that will be used as the Pool of all jobs created on this client.

If you use these forced values, you will probably also want to lock out the client frome being able to change the Pool or Priority of jobs using the Feature Locking abilities of Smedge.

As noted before, Smedge is a system without a central server. While this simplifies day to day use, issues like licensing become more complicated and harder to control. The default action for Smedge is to broadcast the license to your entire network, thus assuring that no matter which machine is acting as server, your license will be there.

Say, however, you have a laptop that you take to another facility. You don't want to broadcast your license to their network, or have your license overwritten by their broadcast. You can use this setting to disable the license broadcasting:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Überware\Smedge\Options
Change the DWORD value called BroadcastLicense. When this value is zero, this machine will not broadcast its license. When the value is 1, it will.

This value is also controlled at the time of license entry. On the Enter License dialog box there is a check box. When checked, the license you are entering will be broadcast. When unchecked, it will not.

The first time you ever start Smedge on a computer, it plays that god-awful sound. Thankfully, it never plays it again.

Unless you ask for it! That's right, there's a registry key that controls what happens. Under the registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Überware\Smedge\Options
You will see a DWORD value called BionicMan. When this value is zero, the sound never plays. When this value is 1, the sound always plays. If you set the value to greater than 1, the sound will randomly play every x times you start Smedge. For example, if you set the value to 10, your computer has a 10% chance of playing the sound when you start Smedge. This can keep things interesting.

On startup, Smedge tries to check for an update on the internet. If you want to disable this feature, you can now do so. Go to the registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Überware\Smedge\Options
You will see a DWORD value called UpdateCheck. If this value is zero, Smedge will not attempt to check for updates. If this value is one, it will.

By default, Smedge will put up a message box when you try to exit the program asking you to confirm the action. You can disable this with a registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Überware\Smedge\Security
You can create a DWORD value called CheckExit. When this value is zero, the check is disabled, and Smedge will exit without confirmation when you select the Exit command from the Queue menu, or use the system menu or close box to close the main Smedge window.

Smedge tries to determine if you are running on a machine with Hyperthreading processors. That way, when you disable 1 processor, it actually disables 1 physical processor, not 1 logical processor. If you have problems with this detection system, you can disable the check with a registry key:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Überwarae\Smedge\Options
Create a DWORD value called HyperthreadCheck. When this value is zero, the check is diabled, and Smedge will simply assume that 1 logical processor is 1 physical processor.