SEB Server: Troubleshooting and FAQ

What this product is for

Most issues with SEB Server fall into a small number of categories: connection problems between Safe Exam Browser and SEB Server, configurations that are not quite right, the SEB restriction not being applied to Moodle, or supporter accounts not seeing what they expect. Each category is covered below.

Main features

• Quick answers to the most common SEB Server issues.
• Pointers to the SEB Server section where each fix is made.
• A short FAQ for staff who are new to SEB Server.

How to use it

Find the heading that matches your symptom and follow the suggested steps. If the problem is not listed, gather what you know (which exam, which user, what was on screen, and any error message) and contact whoever administers your SEB Server.

Common tasks

Sign-in and account issues

A new colleague cannot see Exam Administration. Self-registered accounts only have the Exam Supporter role. An Institutional Administrator needs to add the Exam Administrator role to the account.

A user cannot sign in. Check that the user's account is active and that their institution is also active. If the password has been forgotten, an administrator can change it from the user account page. SEB Server does not send password reset emails.

I cannot see a user that I know exists. Check the Status filter at the top of the user list. By default it may hide inactive users. Set Status to All to see every account.

Moodle setup issues

The connection test fails when saving the Moodle setup. Check that the Moodle URL is reachable from SEB Server, the API account exists in Moodle with the right permissions, and the credentials are correct. If you go through a firewall or proxy, double-check those settings.

The course list is empty. Open the Assessment Tool Exam Lookup and adjust the Start-Time filter. It defaults to about a year ago and will hide older courses.

Apply SEB Lock did nothing. Confirm the Moodle setup Type is Moodle with SEB Server Plugin, that the plugin in Moodle is up to date and enabled, and that the API account used by SEB Server has permission to apply quiz access restrictions through the plugin.

Connection Configuration issues

Safe Exam Browser cannot connect to SEB Server. Make sure the Connection Configuration the student is using is active. Deactivated configurations return HTTP 401 Unauthorised. If the configuration is encrypted with a password, make sure students know the password.

The Connection Configuration was leaked. Deactivate it. Create a replacement, distribute it through your trusted channel and inform students. Past Safe Exam Browser clients using the old configuration will not be able to reach SEB Server.

Exam Configuration issues

I cannot attach the Exam Configuration to an exam. The configuration must be in Ready To Use status and not already attached to another exam. Open it and update the status or copy it if it is already in use.

The Save / Publish Settings action is greyed out. Settings can only be edited when the configuration is in Under Construction. If it has moved to In Use, set the status back to Under Construction first.

Publishing failed because clients are connected. SEB Server blocks changes while a running exam has active clients. Wait until all clients are disconnected before publishing changes during an exam.

Importing a .seb file failed. Check that the file is from a compatible Safe Exam Browser Configuration Tool version and that the password is correct. The new configuration's name must also be unique.

Exam setup issues

I cannot see the quiz I want. Check the Start-Time filter on the Assessment Tool Exam Lookup, and confirm the Moodle setup is active. Make sure the Moodle API account can actually see the course.

The exam page has a red warning at the top. SEB Server lists exactly what is missing, typically an Exam Configuration, indicators or the SEB restriction. Work through the list and the warning will clear.

The quit password keeps changing. The exam and the Exam Configuration share their quit password. Changing it in either place updates the other. Decide where you want to control it and apply it consistently.

Indicator and App-Signature-Key issues

Indicator colours are not changing on monitoring. Check the thresholds. A threshold value that is much higher than any value ever measured will never trigger. Adjust during preparation and rerun a Test-Run.

Many clients show "(No ASK Grant)" at the start. The App-Signature-Key check runs in batches, not the moment a client connects. Wait a short while and refresh. If clients stay in this state, check whether they have sent an ASK at all, as older Safe Exam Browser versions may not.

A trusted Safe Exam Browser is being denied. Open the client in the detailed view and use Grant App Signature Key to explicitly trust it. Subsequent connections with the same ASK will be trusted automatically.

Live monitoring issues

The monitoring view is empty. Confirm the exam is in Running status. If you are testing before the scheduled start time, enable Test-Run on the exam.

Clients drop and pings spike for everyone. This is often a network problem. Check connectivity in the room. There is also a known issue on SEB Server 1.3.x where Safe Exam Browser access tokens expire after one hour, causing connections to be lost mid-exam. The workaround is to extend the access token validity in the SEB Server configuration to a longer value such as 12 hours (43200 seconds), by setting both sebserver.webservice.api.admin.accessTokenValiditySeconds and sebserver.webservice.api.exam.accessTokenValiditySeconds to 43200 in the application-prod.properties file of your SEB Server. This is fixed by default in SEB Server 1.4 and later. Speak to whoever runs your SEB Server containers about applying this change.

A client appears in the wrong SEB Client Group. Open the exam and check the group's IP range or operating system. One client can match more than one group, which is intentional.

Screen proctoring issues

No tiles appear in the gallery. Confirm screen proctoring is enabled on both the exam and on the attached Exam Configuration's SEB Settings, that the exam is running, and that at least one Safe Exam Browser is connected and the student is signed into Moodle.

The Live button has disappeared. The session has disconnected. You can still scrub through the recorded screenshots with the slider, but no new ones will arrive.

Everyone is in the Fallback Group. Check that the SEB Client Groups you selected for proctoring actually match the connecting clients. For IP groups, verify the IP range covers the addresses in use.

The Applications search returns no results. Confirm the date range covers the time the exams ran, and that screen proctoring was on at the time. Sessions captured before screen proctoring was enabled will not appear.

After-exam issues

I cannot find a finished exam. Try the Status filter on the exam list. If it has been archived, set the filter to Archived. Also try Finished Exams in monitoring.

Archive Exam is not available. Archiving is only possible after the exam's end time has passed.

I want to undo an archive. Archived exams are read-only. To run a similar exam again, import the Moodle quiz as a new exam.

An exam was deleted by mistake. Deletion is permanent. Recovery depends on your SEB Server backups. Treat the Delete action with great care.

Things to know

Most SEB Server problems are easier to solve in the right section: account issues in User Account, Moodle connection issues in Assessment Tool Setup, configuration issues in Exam Configuration, and live exam issues in Monitoring. Knowing where to go is half the battle.

Many "missing" items are simply hidden by a filter. Whenever a list looks empty, check the filters above it before assuming the item is gone.

SEB Server does not send emails. Anything that needs to reach a student or colleague (passwords, configuration files, instructions) has to be sent through your normal institutional channels.

If you make a change during an exam and SEB Server stops you, that is usually intentional. Changes to live exams are restricted to keep behaviour consistent for connected students.

For deeper problems that are not covered here, the SEB Server community keeps Open Issues and Ongoing Discussions on its GitHub page. Whoever runs your SEB Server containers will know how to check these.

Frequently asked questions

Do students need a SEB Server account?
No. They sign into Moodle as normal. Only staff need SEB Server accounts.

Why was the exam visible to me yesterday but not today?
Check whether it has been archived. Archived exams are hidden from the default exam list. Set the Status filter to Archived to find it.

Why are dates and times an hour out for some of my colleagues?
Each user's account has its own time zone. UK users should choose a UK time zone so dates and times show correctly across GMT and BST.

Why can I not edit the exam's start and end time?
SEB Server reads start and end times from Moodle. Change them in the Moodle quiz and SEB Server will pick up the change.

Why is Apply SEB Lock not working?
Check that the Moodle setup Type is Moodle with SEB Server Plugin, that the plugin in Moodle is up to date and enabled, and that the API account used by SEB Server has permission to apply quiz access restrictions through the plugin.

Why is my Exam Configuration locked from editing?
It is in In Use status, attached to an exam. Set it back to Under Construction to edit, but be aware of the rules for changing settings during a running exam.

Where do I report a problem that is not in this list?
Contact whoever administers your SEB Server. They can check the SEB Server logs, the Moodle plugin and the underlying containers and decide whether the issue needs escalating to the wider SEB Server community.

Summary

Most SEB Server issues come from one of a few causes: roles and permissions, Moodle connectivity, configuration status, the SEB restriction not applying, or filters hiding things on a list. With the answers above, you should be able to recover from the most common situations quickly and keep your exams running. For anything else, gather the details and contact whoever runs your SEB Server.