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Install Snow License Manager

Snow License Manager 8

2021-09-08

Introduction

This document describes how to install Snow License Manager 8.0.

For upgrades from a previous version of Snow License Manager, contact Snow Software or your local Snow partner.

Prerequisites

Note

  • Read this chapter carefully before an installation is started.

  • Snow License Manager 8 will share components, like Snow Management and Configuration Center (SnowMACC) and Snow Update Server (SUS), with Snow Inventory 5. Therefore these components will always be installed in the location of the system variable %PROGRAM FILES% and not in the selected destination folder. Please make sure that the user running the installation package has access to that path.

System requirements

Verify that the servers meet the system requirements for this product. System requirements and information on dependencies on other Snow products are gathered in System Requirements for all Snow products.

Preparations

It is highly recommended to install all dependent Snow products before installing Snow License Manager:

  • Regardless of which inventory solution you use, you have to install the Snow Inventory server as the inventory data source for Snow License Manager.

  • The Snow License Manager database and the Snow Inventory database must reside on the same SQL Server instance.

Before installation:

  • Make sure you have ASP.NET 4.5 with all features enabled as a role on your server.

  • If you are using the IIS (Internet Information Services) to host other web applications, make sure you have a web hostname or a specific port assigned to the Snow License Manager website.

User account and license keys

Have the following available:

  • An SQL user account with database administration privileges (sa or equivalent account with sysadmin rights) and password

  • The license key for Snow License Manager, as well as your organization/company name as supplied by Snow Software.

  • The SRS activation key, if you plan to install and activate the Software Recognition Service (SRS).

Run the setup

To start the installation, double-click the setup file SnowLicenseManagerSetup.exe.

The installation needs to be run with administrative privileges.

Install Snow License Manager

  1. The installation wizard for Snow License Manager is started.

  2. Click Next.

  3. Read and accept the End User License Agreement for Snow License Manager.

  4. Click Next.

  5. Select the installation folder for Snow License Manager.

    Note

    • You only provide the top folder where you want the software installed, and the setup program will create all sub-folders necessary for the installation.

    • Snow Update Service will be installed in a default folder on the C: drive. Do not move Snow Update Service from this location as this is not a supported configuration. If Snow Update Service is moved, Snow License Manager will no longer receive new software recognition rules or product updates.

  6. Click Next.

  7. Type the Organization/Company name and the Product License Key for Snow License Manager, as supplied by Snow Software.

    The product activation option is selected by default, and an attempt will be made to activate Snow License Manager over the Internet during installation. If your server is not connected to the Internet, or if you are using some kind of proxy, clear the activation checkbox and perform the activation manually when the installation of Snow License Manager is completed.

  8. Click Next.

    Note

    To manually activate Snow License Manager, use the Web Configurator tool which is located in the Tools folder of the Snow License Manager installation.

  9. Perform one of the following steps:

    • Type the Activation Key for the Software Recognition Service.

    • Select the Do not install the Software Recognition Service check box if you plan to not use the service.

  10. Click Next.

  11. Type the name of the Snow Inventory database (normally SnowInventory). If you are using multiple Snow Inventory databases, enter all database names separated by commas (,).

    The default name of the Snow Inventory database is SnowInventory for Inventory 5. For previous versions the default name is SNOWDB.

  12. Select Inventory data offset from the list.

    The Inventory data offset states the number of days in the computers’ scanning history that the system will include when transferring computer data from Snow Inventory to Snow License Manager.

    • The default setting is Optimized for Snow Inventory which sets the offset to 1 day.

    • If you are using Snow Integration Manager– select Optimized for Snow External Data Provider… which will increase the offset to 7 days.

  13. Click Next.

  14. Select SQL Server Name from the list.

    Be sure to use the complete server name – it is not recommended to use localhost as server name.

  15. Enter User Name and Password of the SQL Server database administration account (sa or equivalent account with sysadmin rights).

  16. Click Next.

  17. During installation, Snow License Manager creates a service account in the SQL Server, which is used to connect both Snow Management and Configuration Center and the Snow License Manager Web UI to the database server. You can either set the password for the account yourself or select to create a random one. The service account is never used by regular users, only by the system itself.

  18. Click Next.

  19. Enter Name and Abbreviation of the currency to be used as the base currency. This currency will be displayed as default throughout Snow License Manager and is the currency from which all other currencies will be calculated.

  20. Select Base currency rate (EUR and USD would normally be set to 1, SEK would be set to 100). This rate will be used when adding other currencies in Snow License Manager, which will be set based on their relationship to the base currency rate.

  21. Click Next.

  22. Click Next to start the installation.

  23. Snow License Manager is installed.

    Do not terminate the installation even if the setup program seems to be inactive.

  24. Click Finish to exit the wizard.

To complete the installation, see instructions in the sections that follow.

Complete the installation

Complete web application setup

  1. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager from the Windows Start menu.

  2. If you are not using a hostname to identify your website (for example www.myserver.com), you have to stop any websites on the server using the TCP port 80, or select another port for Snow License Manager. If you plan to use more than one website on the server, it is highly recommended that you use hostnames for each website.

  3. If you installed Snow License Manager and were unable to activate the product, or the website log states that the hardware key could not be extracted, do the following:

    1. Set the identity for the Snow License Manager application pool in the IIS to Local System.

    2. If necessary, re-activate the product with the Web Configurator tool, which is located in the Tools folder of the Snow License Manager installation.

  4. Close the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

Authentication

The following authentication methods can be used for logging on to the Web user interface of Snow License Manager:

  • Windows Authentication

    • If you are not going to use Windows Authentication, Windows Authentication must be Disabled for the Snow License Manager website in IIS.

    • If you are going to use Windows Authentication, see Setting Up Windows Authentication.

  • Federated Authentication with SAML

    To enable Federated Authentication, see Federated authentication with SAML.

Add and configure Inventory source

Inventory sources are used to establish the relationship between a Snow Inventory database and a customer (or Customer ID) in Snow License Manager. For information about Supported configurations and how to Add and Configure inventory source, see Snow Management and Configuration Center.

Synchronize the SRS database

Use Snow Update Service (SUS) to update the Software Recognition Service (SRS) database with the latest recognition rules for Snow License Manager 8. Either run an online update or use an offline update package.

Add inventory data to Snow License Manager

Note

The Data Update Job must be run after the installation, or the users will not be able to see all data in the Snow License Manager Web UI.

  1. Start Snow Management and Configuration Center and log in to the Snow License Manager connection.

  2. In the Category menu, expand Administration, and then click Data Update Job.

  3. In the Data Update Job view, click Start update job manually.

    The duration of the job depends on the amount of data in your Inventory database. The progress of the job is displayed in the action log. When completed, “Job finished successfully” is displayed in the action log.

When the job is successfully finished, you will be able to log in to the Snow License Manager Web UI and see all data.

In this section: