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POS Agent Installation

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Written by Marija Golubovic
Updated yesterday

Overview

The NovaDine Agent is a lightweight Windows application for receiving and managing orders at a single location. It runs in the background, fetching new orders and notifying us with printed receipts and on-screen alerts. We support unattended, script-driven installation as well as simple configuration via YAML or the Agent’s Setup interface, so our team can deploy and customize the Agent with minimal effort.

Limitations

  • The ND Agent can be used for one location at a time. If another location has to be tracked, it's recommended to remove all ND Agent program files and run a new installation for the new location.

  • Currently, ND Agent is only supported on PC/ Windows OS

Prerequisites & Dependencies

Installation Preparation (Non-POS locations only)

Before installing the NovaDine Agent, ensure your computer is up to date, and verify the available printers and location setup type

Verify Windows Updates (Non-POS locations only)

Before installing the NovaDine Agent, ensure that all Windows updates have been run. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Open Internet Explorer

  2. Click on Tools in the Menu Bar

  3. Select Windows Updates from the menu

  4. Follow the prompts to run updates

  5. Once updates are complete, please restart your computer

Verify Printer (Non-POS locations only)

Please also check to ensure your computer has a printer installed. To do so, follow the steps below:

  1. Open the Control Panel on your computer

  2. Double-click the Printers and Faxes icon or View devices and printers, depending upon your version of Windows

  3. Confirm that the correct printer is marked as the default (the default printer will have a checkmark)

  4. If you need to set your printer to the default, right-click and choose “Set as default printer”

Verify Location Setup type (Non-POS locations only)

In the NovaDine Dashboard,

  1. Select Locations in the left sidebar

  2. Find the location you want to track in ND Agent

  3. Scroll down and select the Edit Location button

  4. In edit mode, set the Setup type to PC

  5. Select the Save button

Install the ND Agent

To install the NovaDine Agent from the command-line or script, use:

  • For unattended installs, use “msiexec /i NDAgent.msi /quiet /qn”

  • Use “msiexec /i NDAgent.msi /passive” if someone will be monitoring the installation.

The installation of the ND Agent consists of four steps: downloading the ND Agent, installing the ND Agent, configuring the NDAgent.yml file, and restarting the program to enable orders to flow in. Here's the breakdown of each step:

Part 1: Download the ND Agent

To install and start using ND Agent,

  1. Open a NovaDine (old) dashboard

  2. Remove the URL text up to .com

  3. Copy this /files/NDAgent.msi

  4. Paste the copied text after .com
    ​

  5. This will start the file ND Agent program download

  6. Double-click on it to start the installation
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  7. The window will pop up with a warning. Select the More Info button
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  8. An additional option will appear. Select Run Anyway to install the agent.
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  9. Windows will ask you again to allow the program to make a change to your PC. Select the Yes button to allow changes to be made.

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Agent’s folder location varies depending on the version of Windows it is running.

  • On XP it can be found at: C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\ApplicationData\NovaDine\NDAgent

  • On Windows 7, 8, 10 or 11 it can be found at: C:\ProgramData\NovaDine\NDAgent

Part 2: Configure the ND Agent

  1. After the installation, open the ND Agent
    ​

  2. Upon first access, you will be asked, "Do you want to allow public and private networks to access this app?" Select Allow to install the program
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  3. After installing the program, look for the NDAgent.yml file. To find it, go to This PC> Local Disk (C:)> View > Show> Hidden Items
    ​

  4. Select ProgramData (that was previously hidden)
    ​

  5. Under ProgramData, select NovaDine > ND agent

  6. Double-click on NDAgent.yml
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  7. The configuration file will open in Notepad as a text file
    ​

  8. Now, we have to apply the chain and location-specific settings:

    1. The password needs to be updated to NovaDine; it's always the same for any chain.
      ​

    2. URL: needs to be brand-specific, and it needs to start with https://
      Copy over only the first part of the ND dashboard URL
      ​

    3. Username: in the ND dashboard, navigate to Location Users> NovaDine Agent User. Additionally, you can edit this username and password if you select the Edit button
      ​


      ​


      ​

  9. Now, we need to select File>Save to save our .yml file
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    ​

  10. Close the NDAgent.yml file
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If the ND Agent has already run, the “config_update.yml” file is renamed to “NDAgent.yml” and an “NDAgent.log” file is created in the folder. The “config_update.yml” can be used at any time to update the configuration. The yml files are only read at startup, so if you create one for an existing Agent it will not take effect until the Agent is restarted

  • The configuration files (“NDAgent.yml” for saved configuration and “config_update.yml” for updates) are in YAML format and contain indented “key: value” lines grouped in sections

  • To update a running Agent, place a “config_update.yml” containing the updated configuration in the Agent’s installation folder. The updated file will be read, merged into any existing configuration, and then deleted

Note: Each location has a unique username, password, and restid for the Agent. You can request a CSV file of all Agent usernames and passwords from NovaDine

Part 3: Close the Agent to Save all Changes

To stop the program running,

  1. Open a Task Manager (CTRL+ALT+DEL and select Task Manager)

  2. Find and select NovaDine Agent

  3. Select the End task button to close the program
    ​

Part 4: Restart - Run the Agent

  1. Open the ND Agent
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  2. Upon opening the program, you will see the Orders page.
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  3. Once the orders start coming in, you will be able to manage them
    ​

Agent setup

IMPORTANT NOTE: The Agent does not download or display new orders during configuration. Once setup is complete, select Check Orders to begin receiving orders.

To configure the Agent to your preference,

  1. Select the Setup button
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  2. The pop-up message"New Orders are not downloaded during setup" will appear. Select OK to proceed
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  3. A new pop-up window will appear with the following options:

    1. General: here we can see the Restaurant URL, Restaurant ID, Username, Password, set to Start ND Agent minimized, set "Hide Me" to minimize ND Agent, and the POS System dropdown
      ​

    2. Printers: Printer Name and Print Style options. This setting is for choosing the printer that will print your orders:

      1. Select up to 3 printers

      2. As a Print Style, always select Standard

      3. Select the Apply button to save the printer's configuration
        ​

    3. The Notifications tab is where you can choose how you prefer to be alerted when new orders arrive:

      1. Select checkboxes next to any of your preferred notification methods

      2. Select the Apply button
        ​

    4. On the Tests tab, you can verify that your login, pop-ups, printing, and sounds are all configured and working correctly:

      1. Test Login

        1. Click “Test Login.”

        2. You will receive a pop-up message stating whether or not the login was successful

        3. If the login was successful, click “OK”.
          ​

        4. If login was unsuccessful, go to the General tab and check if the Restaurant URL, Restaurant ID, Username, and Password match the ones we have in NovaDine Dashboard, under Location Users> NovaDine Agent User> Edit User
          ​

      2. Test Printing

        1. Select “Test Printing”

        2. A test page will be sent to your printer

        3. If the test page printed successfully, continue to the next step. If not, repeat the Printers Tab section
          ​

      3. Test Popups

        1. Select Test Popups

        2. The pop-up message should appear in the bottom right corner of your screen
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          ​

      4. Test Sounds

        1. Select Test Sound

        2. You should hear the notification sound

        3. To control the sound settings, see the Order Notifications section of this article
          ​

      5. Complete Tests

        1. Once you have completed the above sections:

        2. Click “Save”

Order notifications

Please note that the incoming order notification can be loud (depending on your system settings). To control the volume setting,

  1. Navigate to the System> Sound> Volume mixer

  2. Scroll to the Apps

  3. Find Order Management

  4. Set the app volume to your preference

Alternative ND Agent Configuration

Setup Tab

You will now need to enter setup information into the Agent to link it to the appropriate store.

  1. Click on the Windows “Start” button

  2. Type “ND Agent” into the programs and files search box

  3. In the NovaDine Agent, click “Setup”

  4. Click “OK” on the standard warning that new orders will not be downloaded during setup

Find NovaDine Agent Username and Password

  1. Log in to your store’s website as a corporate user

  2. Click “Manage” at the top right of the screen

  3. Click the Location Users tab

  4. Click the Pen icon under NovaDine Agent User

  5. Copy, or make note of, the Username and Password

General Tab

In the General tab of the NovaDine Agent:

  1. Delete any default information from the Username and Password fields

  2. Paste the Username and Password copied from the store’s website

  3. In the Restaurant URL, enter your chain’s website

    1. The Restaurant URL is “https://” plus the beginning characters of the Username up through .com. Example: If Username is demo.novadine.com_0015, Restaurant URL would be https://demo.novadine.com

  4. The Restaurant ID will be automatically updated based on the "Username" field.

    1. The number listed at the end of your Agent Username is your Restaurant ID. Example. If the Username is demo.novadine.com_0015, the Restaurant ID would be 15

  5. Choose your POS System from the dropdown. For PC Stores - Choose 'NovaDine'

  6. Click “Apply”

Please Note: For security purposes, please ensure your Restaurant URL in the Agent begins with “https://“

Related Articles

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POS Agent Management
POS Agent: Fire Future Orders to POS
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