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Map ASTRA with greytHR workflow

Updated in March- 2024 | Subscribe to watch greytHR how-to video

ASTRA is a swipe collection system that captures the employees' attendance swipes and sends the data, directly to the greytHR application. In order to import the swipe details, you need to map ASTRA with the greytHR servers. 

You can perform the following actions to map ASTRA with greytHR servers:

  1. Install and configure ASTRA

    1. From CSV

    2. From database

  2. Sync manually

  3. Identify health of ASTRA

  4. Upgrade ASTRA

    1. Install the latest version

Install and configure ASTRA

To install and configure ASTRA in the server system, perform the following actions:

  1. Search in the browser as https://greytapps.greytip.com.

  2. Log in to the page using the Username greytapp and Password greytapp@1234.

  3. Install the latest version of ASTRA. The file downloads in RAR format.

  4. Extract the file.

  5. Run as Administrator.

  6. Install the application in Program File 86. The Localhost:9001 page opens i.e. greytip Astra page. 

  7. In the URL, add the client URL. 

  8. Enter the username as attAdmin/Attadmin which is available in the User. Reset the password and log in to the page.

  9. On the top right, click the Setting option available next to Logout.

  10. Click the Loader info tab to edit the page and proceed with the configuration.

Configuring Loader Setup for Mapping CSV File

Map data from CSV

To map data from CSV, perform the following actions:

  1. From the Data Storage Type dropdown list, select CSV.

  2. From the Vendor dropdown list, select the appropriate vendor.

  3. Click Browse to map the CSV file with Greytip ASTRA.
    Sample CSV File 01122017.csv

  4. In the File Location text box, enter the appropriate location of the CSV file.

  5. From the Date Format dropdown list, select the appropriate date format.
    Note: It is recommended to select the ddMMyyyy date format.

  6. Add a note as per your requirements.

  7. Click Next.

  8. In the No of Columns text box, a value displays that indicates the number of columns present in the CSV file. Based on that value, the page displays the dropdowns. These dropdowns contain entities such as employee, date, and time. Select an appropriate value for each field from the dropdown list.
    Note: 

    1. The Employee, Date, and Time are mandatory values that you need to select from the dropdown lists.

    2. In/Out indicator is an optional configuration and depends on whether your biometric device detects the swipes. If the biometric device detects the swipes, we recommend you configure the In/Out indicator.

    3. For the other fields that you want to ignore, select Ignore from the adjacent dropdown.

  9. Click to choose the appropriate field format.
    Note: We recommend you select the following format for the date and time.
    Date format— dd/MM/yyyy
    Time format— HH:mm:ss

  10. Click Finish. The Recent Swipes page appears and displays the details captured from the CSV file. The text OK beside the headings, Swipes From Reader, and Uplink to Greytip indicate that the data is successfully mapped.

Note: The values in the CSV file are separated using delimiters such as comma (,) or semicolon (;). These delimiters help to map the data from the CSV file to Greytip ASTRA.

Map data from database

To map data from the database, perform the following actions:

  1. From the Data Storage Type dropdown list, select Database.

  2. From the Vendor dropdown list, select the appropriate vendor.

  3. Click Next.

  4. Select the appropriate database provider and enter the details such as database name, host, port, and table format.
    Note: The port number that you enter depends on the database provider you choose. Following are the port numbers associated with the various database provider. 

    1. PostgreSQL: 443 

    2. My SQL: 3306 

    3. SQL Server: 1433 

    4. MS Access: Doesn’t have a specified port 

    5. Oracle: 1521 (differs)

  5. Enter the Username and Password to login into the database.

  6. Click Fetch Tables to fetch data from the database. You can view the tables in the dropdown list adjacent to the Swipe Tables field.

  7. From the Swipe Table dropdown list, select the appropriate swipe table.

  8. Click Test Connect to verify the successful establishment of the connection. The Database settings verified successfully message appears.

  9. Click Next. 

  10. In the No of Columns text box, a value displays that indicates the number of columns present in the table fetched from the database. Based on that value, the page displays the dropdowns. These dropdowns contain entities such as employee, date, and time. Select an appropriate value for each field from the dropdown list.
    Note: 

    1. The Employee, Date, and Time indicators are mandatory values that you need to select from the dropdown lists.

    2. In/Out indicator is an optional configuration and depends on whether your biometric device detects the swipes. If the swipes are detected by the biometric device, it is recommended to configure the In/Out indicator.

    3. For the other fields that you want to ignore, select Ignore from the adjacent dropdown.

    4. It is mandatory to map all the fields. No field can be left blank.

  11. Click Finish. The Recent Swipes page appears and displays the details mapped from the database. The text OK beside the headings, Swipes From Reader, and Uplink to Greytip indicate that the data is successfully mapped.

Post successful completion of mapping, the swipe data automatically syncs to the greytHR cloud. However, you might experience a lag of five minutes in the real-time swipe detection and the data that is synced to the greytHR cloud. 

greytHR identifies multiple ASTRA systems, based on their unique IP address and installation name. The ASTRA system is enhanced to record the name of all the active installations.
Note: ASTRA system is ready to fetch the swipes of the employees.

Loader setup page 1

Loader setup page 2

Loader setup page 3

Identify health of ASTRA

greytHR receives a message from ASTRA servers every hour. The health of ASTRA displays in the list based on the number of installations.

You can identify the health of ASTRA in the following ways:

  1. If a ping is received from the ASTRA server, it states that it's healthy. 

  2. If ping is not received, the greytHR server waits for another three hours and takes the following actions: 

    1. If a ping is received within three hours of waiting, it states that ASTRA is healthy.

    2. If ping is not received even after three hours, it states that ASTRA's health is in danger. greytHR sends an email and SMS notification immediately to the ASTRA Admin. 

  3. If any installation is not working/running, you can view a message at the top of the list.
    Note: In the Admin Login you can view a message on Leave > Setup > Swipe Management > Health Status.

  4. You can view only the active installations.

Sync manually

The manual sync allows you to request attendance data manually using greytHR. You can send only three requests for the manual sync of data at a time. The validations for sending requests are as follows: 

  1. Attendance data can be requested for a maximum of 31 days per request. 

  2. The To Date needs to be greater than From Date. 

  3. The From Date and To Date fields cannot be the future dates. 

  4. A request cannot be sent for the already existing dates under pending requests.

  5. Other users cannot delete the pending requests.

  6. You cannot request manual sync when you lock attendance.

Upgrade ASTRA

Versions ASCA 3.0 and above to allow manual sync. If you are using an older version, please upgrade your license to access all the privileges.

To upgrade to the latest version of ASTRA, you must stop and uninstall the current ASTRA services. To upgrade ASTRA, perform the following actions:

  1. Go to the Start button and type services in the Search bar. The Services window opens.

  2. Right-click Greytip ASTRA Service to search and stop the service. Your current ASTRA services stop and then close the window.

  3. Navigate to Start > Control Panel > Programs > Programs and Features.

  4. Select Greytip ASTRA and right-click to select Uninstall/ Change.

  5. Click Continue to uninstall. A pop-up window appears. 

  6. Click Next.

  7. Click Finish and delete the Greytip ASTRA folder from your system.

Install latest version of ASTRA

To install the latest version of Greytip ASTRA, perform the following actions:

  1. Open your browser and type https://greytapps.greytip.com

  2. Enter the Username as greytapp and the Password as greytapp@1234. 

  3. Click Login. 

  4. Download the latest version of greytip ASTRA.

  5. Select the folder in which you have downloaded the file to run the installation process.

  6. Right-click the file and select Extract. The installation file is available in the same folder.

  7. Right-click the file and select Run as Administrator. It may take a few minutes.

  8. A Setup - Greytip ASTRA pop-up window appears. 

  9. ASTRA downloads only in Program file - x86

  10. Click Next to run the installation. It may take a few minutes for the installation to complete.

  11. Click Finish. You have the latest version of ASTRA now in your system. The Greytip ASTRA Online Account Information page appears.

  12. Enter the credentials and click Login Now.

  13. Click Setting on top of the screen > Loader Info > Edit.

  14. Enter the Installation name. The installation name is used as the office location for tracking purposes.

  15. Click Next. The installation of the latest version of Greytip ASTRA is complete.

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