GpsGate Server Guides

This is the starting point for how to use GpsGate Server. If you have not yet installed GpsGate Server take a look here for an on site installation on your own server, and here to signup for a hosted server.

To get your own server installed (on site), setup your first application and get a Meitrack device or laptop online read this guide Getting started with GpsGate Server.

GPS Tracker Setup

GpsGate support hundreds of different GPS trackers. Here is a complete list and how to connect..

For Teltonika and Intellitrac we have made quick step-by-step video tutorials. And there are more extensive guides for Windows laptops (from GpsGate), iPhone (from ECOTEC Ltd.) and Android (from Droid Technology).

Map View

When you login to VehicleTracker you see a map and your vehicles moving on the map in real time. Depending on which features you have enabled for the application you can also create Geofences, manage alarms, jobs for dispatch and much more in real time. The “Workspace” can be customized, see “Users and Applications” below for more info.

You can also access historical data, here is a video guide on how to draw tracks.

Users and Applications

Vehicles, assets, operators and administrators are all “Users” in GpsGate. When you add a new Vehicle you first add a User, assign the User to the “_Unit” role, and add a device to it. keep that in mind, everything is “Users”, and then you add the User to a Role. The Role determines what the user can do and what it “is”. For each new vehicle or asset you add, create a new User and add a device to that User. For each new administrator you add to an application create a User and add it to the _Administrator Role. And for an Operator, create a new User and add it to the _Operator Role.

You can add a device to an administrator or operator as well, which is a good way to save licenses for small applications. And you can add the same administrator to a range of application, which is what you typically want to do when you manage all your customer applications on one server using the same login. Both those approaches will also save you some licenses. What you cannot do is to add multiple device to one user, that will not work.

In SiteAdmin you create new applications. The fastest way is to create a new application from an “Application Template”. To each application you then assign “Features”, this is basically what can be done in the application, like POI, Dispatch and reports.

The layout in VehicleTracker is called a “Workspace”. The Workspace can be very simple and only display a map, or complex and include a long range of panels and windows with built in and third party plugins. In an advanced setup you can also have several of workspaces to switch between for different tasks. The Workspace and which Features you include in the application determines what kind of application it “is”. If it is a simple real time tracking for one asset, or an advanced dispatch application for a utility company. The Workspaces you setup can be included in an Application Template and included in new application created. In one application different Roles of Users can have access to different sets of Workspaces and Features. Read more about Workspaces.

Reporting

Reports can be viewed in the browser, exported as CSV files to Excel and emailed to a User. Here is how to activate a report for an applicaiton.

Distance reports and Event Rule based reports are included in GpsGate at install time, we will also publish more reports which can be downloaded from the web under SiteAdmin -> Plugins.

You can create new types reports or modify existing reports, which is explained here.

Events and Alarms

GpsGate has a rich and easy to use feature to detect “Events”. It can be if a vehicle enters or leaves a geofence, if a person presses an alarm button. If the temperature goes above an allowed limit for more than 5 minutes. If the GPS antenna is damaged. Most things can be detected by user defined “Event Rules”. The Event Rules can be used for reporting, or to display real time status in the map view, to send email or SMS notifications and even for real time integration to any third party system. Event Rules is a great feature!

Dispatch

To find a vehicle suitable for a task and then “Dispatch” it to a location to do the job is a very common way of using GpsGate. In its simplest form an operator looks at the real time view on a map and calls the driver. To keep track of “Jobs” use the “Dispatch” plugin. Job information can also be sent to Garmin navigators mounted in the vehicles, this helps communication between operator and driver and assist driver with navigation.

Utility companies, and public service organizations like police can find much use in GpsGate as a solution for dispatch.

Maps

After installation Google Maps are activated on your server, but GpsGate supports a long range of mapping options. Many regional map services, shape files for on site installation, and APIs to integrated not yet supported mapping options. You find more information here.

Trouble shooting

To not get things to work can be really frustrating. GpsGate has a range of tools and guides to sort out any unexpected problems. Read this if you don’t get your trackers online. The Terminal is a very useful tool to monitor and trouble shoot communication between tracker and server. And here is a collection of some more guides.

Use the forum to search for solutions and post new questions. And as a last resort you can contact GpsGate support.

Trust your production server

Once you have your server in production and hopefully many users, you want to make sure the server is online and data is safe. Keep things in order. Use the WatchDog Service to get email or SMS notifications if there are unexpected errors on your server. Remember to backup your database. If you run into performance problems read this guide on how to keep bursts of connecting trackers in control, and how to use Profiling to point out the exact configuration on your server that made it run slowly. To keep your database at a fixed size, use the Cleanup plugin.

That should be it. Data is backed up. You get a notification by SMS or email if your server needs attention. You have tools to tune your server for performance. And you do not need to worry your database will outgrow the size of the server hard disk.

Old guides for GpsGate Server v2.3.1

GpsGate Server Installation Guide v2.2 (PDF)
This guide describes step by step how to install and setup GpsGate Server 2.2

GpsGate VehicleTracker User Guide v2.3.1 (PDF)
How to setup and use VehicleTracker v2.3.1

GpsGate BuddyTracker User Guide v1.3.2 (PDF)
How to setup and use BuddyTracker.

GpsGate SMS Proxy Guide v2.2 (PDF)
This guide describes step by step how to install and setup GpsGate SMS Proxy