SEB Server: Introduction and Overview
SEB Server is a web-based administration tool that helps your organisation set up, manage and monitor online exams that use the Safe Exam Browser (SEB). It gives staff a single place to prepare exams, lock down what students can do on their device during an exam, and keep an eye on every connected student in real time.
What this product is for
Running secure online exams across a class, year group or whole institution is difficult without a central tool. Each device needs the right settings, students must be prevented from opening other programs or websites, and invigilators need to know who is connected and whether anyone is having problems. Doing this by hand for every exam is slow and error-prone.
SEB Server solves this by letting your team prepare an exam once, push the same lockdown settings to every Safe Exam Browser that connects, and monitor the whole session from a web browser. It pairs with your existing Moodle site so the exam still lives in Moodle, but is only reachable through Safe Exam Browser with the correct settings.
Main features
- A single web application for preparing and running exams that use Safe Exam Browser.
- Multi-tenant institution support, so several departments or schools can share one SEB Server but keep their data separate.
- Built-in user accounts with role-based permissions.
- Connection configurations that tell Safe Exam Browser how to reach the server.
- Exam configurations that define every lockdown setting for an exam.
- A link to your Moodle site so courses and quizzes can be imported as exams.
- Automated SEB restrictions that lock the Moodle quiz so it can only be opened from a properly configured Safe Exam Browser.
- Monitoring indicators for live exams, such as missed pings, low battery or warnings.
- A live monitoring view that shows every connected student and lets supporters act on incidents.
- Screen proctoring that captures and lets you review screenshots from connected clients.
- Activity and audit logs for review after an exam.
How to use it
SEB Server is reached through a normal web browser. You sign in with a username and password issued to you by an administrator. The screen is divided into a navigation pane on the left, a main content area in the middle, and an action pane on the right. The action pane shows what you can do on the screen you are currently looking at. Most pages either show a list of items or a form with details about a single item.
The four roles
SEB Server uses four built-in roles. A single user account can hold more than one role at the same time, which is common for smaller teams.
- SEB Server Administrator. Looks after the SEB Server itself. They create institutions, manage user accounts across the whole system and can see most things in read-only form to help diagnose problems.
- Institutional Administrator. Looks after one institution. They manage user accounts for that institution, set up the link to Moodle, and create the connection configurations that Safe Exam Browser uses to reach the server.
- Exam Administrator. Prepares exams. They import a Moodle quiz as an exam, attach the right exam configuration (the lockdown settings), set monitoring indicators, apply the SEB restriction and choose which exam supporters will be on duty.
- Exam Supporter. Runs the exam on the day. They open the monitoring view, watch the connected students, respond to alerts and take action on individual clients if needed.
The order things happen in
The order below is the standard SEB Server workflow. It is worth following the first time, because each step depends on the previous one.
- An SEB Server administrator creates the institution.
- An institutional administrator creates user accounts and assigns roles.
- An institutional administrator sets up the link to Moodle.
- An institutional administrator creates at least one connection configuration for Safe Exam Browser to use.
- An exam administrator creates an exam configuration that defines the lockdown settings.
- An exam administrator imports a Moodle quiz as an exam and attaches the exam configuration.
- An exam administrator adds monitoring indicators and assigns exam supporters.
- An exam administrator applies the automated SEB restriction so the quiz can only be opened with Safe Exam Browser.
- On the day, exam supporters open the live monitoring view and watch the session.
- After the exam, the team reviews the logs and, if needed, archives the exam.
Common tasks
Sign in for the first time. Open the SEB Server URL given to you. If you already have an account, enter your username and password. If not, use the Register button to create a new account. New accounts are created with the Exam Supporter role only; you will need an institutional administrator to give you any other privileges.
Set your time zone. On registration or in your account settings, choose the time zone you work in. SEB Server stores dates and times in UTC but displays them in your chosen time zone. For UK users this is usually GMT or BST. All examples in this knowledge base use the DD/MM/YYYY format and the 24-hour clock.
Find your way around. Use the left-hand menu to navigate between sections. Selecting an item in a list activates the matching actions in the right-hand action pane. Most lists can be filtered and sorted by clicking the column headers or using the filter inputs at the top of each column.
Things to know
SEB Server is an administration tool. Students do not log into SEB Server directly. They start Safe Exam Browser, which then connects to SEB Server in the background to download the exam configuration and open the exam in Moodle.
Self-registration only creates an Exam Supporter account. If you need to prepare exams, an institutional administrator must add the Exam Administrator role to your account.
The email address on your user account is for information only. SEB Server does not currently send confirmation or notification emails.
SEB Server does not support single sign-on or third-party login at present. All sign-ins use a username and password held by SEB Server.
Frequently asked questions
Do students need a SEB Server account?
No. Students only need Safe Exam Browser installed and a connection configuration file. They authenticate against Moodle as normal once the exam opens.
Can I have more than one role?
Yes. Roles can be combined on a single account, for example Exam Administrator and Exam Supporter, so the same person can prepare an exam and then support it on the day.
Can I run several institutions on one SEB Server?
Yes. SEB Server has multi-tenant support built in. Each institution is kept separate, with its own users, configurations and exams.
Does SEB Server replace Moodle?
No. Moodle still hosts the quiz and stores the results. SEB Server controls how students are allowed to reach the quiz and what they can do once Safe Exam Browser is open.
Is SEB Server the same as Safe Exam Browser?
No. Safe Exam Browser is the application that runs on the student's device and locks it down. SEB Server is the central tool your staff use to configure and monitor Safe Exam Browser at scale.
Summary
SEB Server is the control centre for online exams that use Safe Exam Browser. It lets your institution prepare exam settings centrally, link Moodle quizzes as exams, lock student devices during an assessment, and monitor every connected client in real time. The four roles, taken together, cover everything from system administration through to live invigilation.
These articles are produced and maintained by Essington ITS, a UK-based IT services provider specialising in the deployment of SEB Server the secure online assessment platform.
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