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Comet-Hosted Management Console configuration

Overview​

The Comet-Hosted Management Console settings can be configured via your:

  1. Comet Account Portal
  2. Comet-Hosted Management Console

Configure a custom domain​

In the "My Services" section of your Comet Account Portal, select "Actions" on the right, then select "Settings". The Comet-Hosted Server Settings dialog opens on the Custom Domain tab.

Email reporting​

Configure email reporting sending option​

Configure your email sending options. These are used for sending reports to end users or admins.

Delivery Method: Default​

The default email delivery method uses AWS SES to send emails on behalf of a verified email. During the creation of your Comet-Hosted Server you will recieve an Email Address Verification email from noreply@cometbackup.com. Click the link in this email to verify your send-as account.

To configure DMARC compliance when sending email reports from a Comet-Hosted Server you need to configure a couple DNS record on the top-level of your domain. This is recommended to prevent reports going to spam.

NameTypeValue
cb-dmarc.<domain>MX10 feedback-smtp.us-west-1.amazonses.com
cb-dmarc.<domain>TXTv=spf1 include:amazonses.com ~all

To confirm that these values are correct, click the 'Validate DNS Records' button. Note: Some providers may take up to 72 hours to propagate these changes.

Delivery Method: Custom SMTP Server​

Use this option if you want to send emails using an Office 365 or Google SMTP relay.

If the default email deliver method does not suit your needs, it is possible to confirm email reports to be sent using a custom SMTP server. Switch the 'Delivery Method' option to 'Custom SMTP Server', and enter the authentication details for your custom SMTP server/relay. You can test that the server can connect to this server by clicking the 'Test SMTP Credentials' button.

Configure email reports​

Refer to our guide on managing backups efficiently with email reporting for more information on setting up email reports.

Admin users​

The Comet-Hosted Server Settings dialog also manages the admin accounts that can log in to your Comet-Hosted Management Console. To open it, go to My Services in your Comet Account Portal, select "Actions", then select "Settings".

Primary admin​

The Primary Admin tab shows the domain, username and password of the admin account that was created with your server. The Comet Account Portal uses this account to manage your server, so add additional users rather than sharing it.

If the password may have been exposed, click "Reset Password". The dialog shows a newly generated password, and the old one stops working for new logins.

Additional users​

The Additional Users tab creates extra admin accounts that log in directly on your Comet-Hosted Management Console's login page. Technicians can then have their own login without access to your Comet Account Portal.

To add a user:

  1. Enter a username. It must be unique on this server.
  2. Enter a password of at least 12 characters, or leave the field empty to generate one.
  3. Choose whether the user can edit branding. This is off by default.
  4. Click "Add User".

The password is only shown once, so copy it before you close the dialog.

Leave "Can edit branding" off when you hand a login to someone who shouldn't see or change your branding settings, for example when you resell your Comet-Hosted server to a customer of your own.

The user list shows each user's username, whether they have enrolled in two-factor authentication, and whether they can edit branding. From the list you can turn branding access on or off, reset a password, or delete the user. Resetting a password generates a new one. The user's two-factor authentication stays enrolled.

Comet Account Portal users don't appear in this list. They log in to the Management Console through their own Account Portal accounts.

Storage Template​

The Storage Template section is used to manage default storage options which are available when requesting a new Storage Vault for a user. When adding a Storage Vault for a new or existing account, you can simply assign a Storage Template instead of manually creating a storage location per account. Comet will automatically separate user data and therefore there is no need to create separate bucket locations manually.

The Storage Template will automatically assign a bucket location within the storage location. It is possible to configure it with your Self-Hosted Storage Gateway location/s and to a cloud storage provider directly.

Configure a Storage Template to backup directly to a cloud provider​

You can configure a Storage Template with one of the supported cloud storage providers. When using this Storage Vault, the data will backup directly to the storage location and not pass through your Self-Hosted Storage Gateway (unlike using your cloud storage as the storage destination for Storage Gateway). When assigning this Storage Vault to an account, the access keys granted will only have permissions for its own subdirectory and won't be able to access other accounts data.

Create a new Storage Vault, change the Type dropdown to one of the supported cloud providers, and input your cloud storage details (Master key is required).

Current supported providers for direct-to-cloud Storage Template​

Video tutorial​

See our video on how to configure direct-to-cloud storage with Comet:

System branding​

You can configure the appearance of the Comet Management Console web interface.

For more information on re-branding the Comet Management Console, please refer to our re-branding guide.

Backup agent branding​

The Backup Agent Branding section is for rebranding the Comet desktop client. This can also be configured within cometd.cfg. When you make changes to your branding, it is required to update the desktop clients for the changes to apply. It is possible to update the branding for multiple devices at once using the Bulk device upgrade feature).

For more information, please refer to our full guide on re-branding the Comet Backup Client and details on codesigning the Comet Backup Client.

There is also a separate guide on re-branding the Comet interface.

Backup agent downloads​

The Backup Agent Downloads is the part of Comet Management Console responsible for generating branded client software installers.

Options​

Video tutorial​

Integrations​

Comet integrates with a handful of third party services. Check out the Third-party Service Addons for more details.