Installing a Gateway

Please see here to install on MacOS

What is a Gateway

The CIMAR Gateway is a Microsoft® Windows® application normally installed on a server or virtual machine that securely processes and routes DICOM imaging and HL7 messaging. This Gateway securely links CIMAR’s Cloud to any local PACS, modality, workstation, VNA, RIS, EMR, or other DICOM or HL7-enabled device. This document is a guide on how to install and test this software.

Requirements

Host Requirements     

• 64 bit machine
• Windows (2022+) 
• Static IP address
• .NET Framework 4.7.2 or later
• Ram size dependent on volumes passing through – 16GB Minimum.
• Disc size dependent on volumes passing through – 250GB a good starting point. 
• Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox (Internet Explorer is no longer supported)

Installation Requirements

• Port 443 open for secure (TSL/SSL) outbound communication to CIMAR's AWS Cloud*:
• IP Addresses:
  • 35.176.3.67
  • 35.177.113.94
  • 35.177.245.24
• Hostnames:
  • https://cloud.cimar.co.uk
  • https://storelpu.cimar.co.uk
• Port 12000 open for internal HL7 communication

Minimum CIMAR Permissions

• Gateways: view
• Gateways: Create, edit gateways
• Destinations: View destinations
• Locations: view (If the gateway needs attaching to a location)
• Groups: view (If the gateway needs attaching to a group)

Install instructions

1. Sign into your CIMAR account: <company vanity>.cimar.co.uk

2. Navigate to the Gateway tab

• Administration -> Gateway

3. Download gateway software

4. Run downloaded ‘setup.exe’ file

5. Select download destination  (recommended to leave as the default)

6. Press next throughout the rest of the application process and finish installing the gateway.

7. Select ‘No, I will restart the computer later’

8. Run the newly create ‘CreateGateway’ application

• This should be found on your desktop or,
• Can be found in ‘Program Files -> Cimar folder

9. Login to CIMAR with your details

10. Select the ‘Gateway Owner’

• This will be the namespace (worklist) that the gateway ties to and where studies sent to the gateway are uploaded to. 

11. Give the gateway a logical name

• We recommend adding the gateway host machine’s IP address to the name for easier destination configuration. Eg. ‘Demo PC Gateway (192.168.0.1)’

12. Type of gateway is ‘gateway’

13. Set the category as Active'

14. Fill in the contact details of the gateway. These details will be contacted by CIMAR in the event there is an issue with your gateway.

15. Click Save

16. Copy the gateway serial number from the popup

16. In the create gateway application paste the gateway serial number into the provided field

17. Click ‘Validate and Save’

• Ensure a popup saying the serial number is valid before proceeding to the next step
• If the popup does not say the serial number is valid please contact CIMAR support

18. On the create gateway application click the ‘Start’ button

19. Wait for the application to automatically build itself

• This process can take from 30 seconds to 10 minutes depending on the speed of the host machine

20. Once built the gateway will automatically begin running

21. Test the gateway (see ‘Test’ section)

22. If all tests pass then the gateway has been successfully installed 

Gateway Tests

Check the services are all running

1. Open the ‘Task Manager’

2. Go to the services tab

3. Sort the services by ‘Name’

4. Ensure the following services are all running

Check the gateway log file

1. In file explorer go to ‘program files -> Cimar -> Gateway -> logs’
2. Open the text document named ‘log’
3. In the log file you are looking for the following lines of text
   1. These may not be grouped exactly together
   2. If the gateway was recently built they are likely to be at the bottom of the document

 Ensure the gateway is pinging in the UI

1. Login to your CIMAR account
2. Go to Administration -> Gateway
3. In the ‘Last ping’ column ensure the recently created gateway has a green and short ping time. Typically for a healthy gateway, this should be within the last 10 seconds.

Test a study upload

1. In file explorer go to ‘Program Files -> Dicomgrid -> Dropbox’
2. The dropbox folder provides a way to manually upload a study through the gateway into the cloud. 
3. Copy a test study into the folder
   • Make sure the study is copied into the folder as the gateway will automatically delete the file once it has finished uploading the study
4. Ensure that the study appears in the namespace tied to the gateway
   • The time this takes depends on the size of the test study and the networks upload speed
5. If it appears that the upload has failed consult the log file (see gateway log test) for guidance to what went wrong
6. If still unsure please contact CIMAR Support. If there are errors in the logs, then please include these in your ticket.

Interactive Guide

Below is an interactive step by step guide to installing a CIMAR gateway. It will take you through the simple process of installing a gateway on your Windows host machine. 

For a fullscreen version of this guide please click here.