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Vico Software Installation Guide
This guide provides an overview of the Vico Office product and describes how to plan your deployment,
install it, or upgrade to it. The guide is intended for users who install or upgrade this product for
professional purposes. The guide also includes an introduction for network administrators about the
system configuration that they might need to implement.
This guide is divided into the following parts:
Introduction to Vico Office ...................................................................................................................... 3
System Components ............................................................................................................................ 3
Vico Office ........................................................................................................................................... 3
Vico Project Server .............................................................................................................................. 3
Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 3
An Object Oriented Database .......................................................................................................... 4
Vico License Manager .......................................................................................................................... 5
Overview ......................................................................................................................................... 5
License Server.................................................................................................................................. 6
System requirements ............................................................................................................................ 10
General Requirements ....................................................................................................................... 10
Vico Office Requirements .................................................................................................................. 10
Vico Project Server Requirements ...................................................................................................... 11
Vico License Manager Requirements ................................................................................................. 12
Configuration Options ........................................................................................................................... 14
Configuration 1 – “Standalone” ......................................................................................................... 14
Configuration 2 – “LAN” (Recommended) .......................................................................................... 14
Configuration 3 – “WAN” ................................................................................................................... 15
Working Offline ................................................................................................................................. 16
Installation Options ............................................................................................................................... 17
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Vico Office (VO) ............................................................................................................................. 17
Vico Project Server (VPS) ............................................................................................................... 17
Vico Office with Vico Project Server ............................................................................................... 17
Vico License Manager (VLM) .......................................................................................................... 17
System Configuration ............................................................................................................................ 18
Firewall Settings ................................................................................................................................ 18
UAC Settings ...................................................................................................................................... 19
Licensing Process ................................................................................................................................... 20
License Management Server Connection Failure ................................................................................ 21
Virtualization ......................................................................................................................................... 22
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Introduction to Vico Office
System Components
The Vico Office system consists of three main components:



Vico Office
Vico Project Server
Vico License Manager
Vico Office
Vico Office is the main program in Vico’s integrated solution for construction planning, controlling and
constructability analysis and is needed for all users who will interact with project data.
The Vico Office Client provides a basic set of functions needed for creating, viewing and reporting of
projects. Vico Office Modules are task specific programs that run in the Vico Office Client. A Module is
activated when a license for it is available on the user’s system or via a license server.
Vico Project Server
Overview
Vico Project Server (VPS) manages the access and storage of project data. The VPS creates new
databases for each new project, and maintains the master list of projects that is visible in the Vico Office
application. VPS can be installed together with Vico Office, or separately to a remote server.
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There are three types of databases that are managed by the VPS:



Project Databases
Master Database
Shared Database
A separate Project Database is added for each project that is created on the VPS. One VPS can handle
many projects; however, a large number of users might require additional VPS-s.
The Master Database contains the list of projects that a user that connects to the VPS will see in the
Vico Office project list in the “Dashboard” view.
The Shared Database contains non-project-specific information such as report templates.
An Object Oriented Database
Vico Project Server uses an object oriented database by Versant (Versant Object Database©), which
works with data objects (instead of tables with records) that are stored in the client computer’s memory
(the Client Object Cache), the server’s memory (Server Page Cache) and on disk, in database volumes.
All transactions are continuously logged in a Logical Log File (for objects in the Server Page Cache) and a
Physical Log File (for objects in the Database Volumes), which prevents data loss in case of an
unexpected program error.
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The Object Backend (OBE) process manages the communication (through queries) between VPS and
Vico Office. The Clean Back End (cleanbe) process writes server memory pages to the database volume
as soon as the maximum number of pages that should be kept in memory is reached. The number of
pages that are kept in memory can be configured for both client and server (in respectively the front end
profile.be file and back end profile.be file).
Vico License Manager
Overview
The Vico License Manager (VLM) handles licensing of Vico Office modules. Licenses can be installed
locally or on a license server. The VLM component is installed together with the Vico Office software and
generates license (.LIC) files based on the received license information. This process is explained in more
detail in the “Licensing Process” chapter.
Single User Licenses (SUL) are installed locally and
managed by the local VLM component.
Floating Licenses (FL) are installed on a License Server,
and managed by the VLM Server component. The “Client”
systems pull licenses from the pool of installed licenses
on the License Server.
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License Server
Floating Licenses, installed on a License Server, can be managed using the License Server Administration
utility. The utility is accessed as a web page, which can be started from the Start menu on the License
Server via Vico Software > License Server > Server administration.
Setting up a License Server:
1. Appoint a computer that will act as the license server
2. Start Vico Office setup, select Vico License Manager (VLM) to install the Vico License Server on
that machine (“server”)
Alternatively, you can download and install Vico License Server separately: Vico License Server
3. Install (by opening .LIU License Installation files – wait for 15-20 seconds) the floating licenses on
the “server” computer (example license names: ‘VO Takeoff Manager’; ‘VO Cost Planner’; VO
Cost Explorer’, etc)
.LIU files should be associated with Vico License Installation Utility (LIU). If the file association is
missing, please download and install this utility separately: License Installation Utility
4. Start the Server Administration page on the License Server (Start menu > Vico Software >
License Server > Server administration) and click ‘Reread/Restart’ – the License Server should
now be up and running.
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Installing Vico Office and connecting to the license server:
1. Download Vico software from our products pages. Install Vico Office on each user’s
computer. We recommend you restart your system after installing.
2. Install (by opening the ‘Vico Office Client’ license (.liu file attached to license notification) – wait
for 15-20 seconds) on the client computer(s)
3. Set the connection to Vico License Manager (License Server) at Dashboard/VLM Server field in
Vico Office.
Alternatively, you can download and install the Vico Client Utility on each user’s computer, and
during the installation you will have to enter the name of the “server” computer
4. Everything is set up; when you start Vico Office, it will check out the ‘Vico Office Client’ license
locally, and should be able to check out the module licenses from the server.
License Pool, license usage
To get the list of installed licenses, click on ‘Status’ menu item on the left, then on the ‘Vico’ button
under ‘Server Status’.
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To see who is using (checking-out) a license, click on the ‘usage…’ button at License Pool view.
To revoke a license, and put it back to the license pool, click on ‘Remove’:
For further information about license usage and user activity tracking contact Vico Software Technical
Support at [email protected].
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System requirements
General Requirements
The Vico Office program interacts with the remote VPS over a network connection. To warrant optimal
performance of the system, the network connection should have the following characteristics:



Low Latency
Recommended maximum value for latency is 20ms. A dedicated VPS system over a Local Area
Network or Network Attached Storage are good solutions, Storage Area Network is not.
High Bandwidth
Project data needs to be transferred from the VPS to the Vico Office user interface continuously
and in high volume; for good performance of the Vico Office views, a high bandwidth
connection between VPS and Vico Office is therefore required.
Firewall Exceptions
Vico Office communicates with the VPS over a TCP/IP connection using dedicated ports, and so
does the VLM. Firewall exceptions are required in Windows firewall and – if applicable – in
additionally installed software and/or hardware firewalls.
Vico Office Requirements
The following are the requirements for correct installation of the Vico Office software.
Supported operating systems:
 Windows Vista
 Windows 7
Hard disk usage: a minimum of 10GB free disk space is required for a full installation.
Memory: a minimum of 4GB is required; 16GB or more is recommended.
Video Card: high-end OpenGL card with at least 512 MB onboard video memory (ATI or NVIDIA)
Open port requirements:
 Ports 20, 21, 1026 and 1027 (inbound and outbound traffic to enable crash reports to be
uploaded to the Vico servers)
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Vico Project Server Requirements
The following are the requirements for the Vico Project Server.
Supported operating systems:
 Windows Vista
 Windows 7
 Windows Server 2008 R1/R2
Hard disk usage (defined in the profile.be configuration file):
 At least 100Mb for the VPS program
 1GB should be calculated with as a per project minimum, but projects can be much larger
 20MB for “Shared” and “Master” databases
Memory (defined in the profile.be configuration file):
 Maximum 300MB per concurrently used project
 40MB for the “Master” database
 40MB for the “Shared” database
Firewall exceptions for specific programs:
 NotificationDaemon.exe (C:\VERSANT\7_0_1); uses TCP/IP port 5088
 versantd.exe (C:\VERSANT\7_0_1\bin); uses TCP/IP port 5019
 obe.exe (C:\VERSANT\7_0_1\bin); uses TCP/IP port range 6000-6200 (this can be defined using
an environment variable called VERSANT_SERVER_PORTS); each project uses a dedicated port,
therefore a range is used.
Notes:
 A high bandwidth and low latency connection to the Vico Office systems is required for good
performance
 Storage Area Network is a good storage option for the databases
 Network Attached Storage has a high latency and is therefore not recommended
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Vico License Manager Requirements
The following are the requirements for the Vico License Manager.
Supported operating systems:
 Windows Vista
 Windows 7

Windows Server 2008R1/R2
Open port requirements:
 Two ports are needed for floating license communication:
o Port 2764 for establishing a connection to the VLM License Server for floating licenses
o A random port for further for communication with the VLM License Server for floating
licenses. The second port can also be specified in the .LIC license file on the License
Server with a text editor such as Notepad, by adding ‘vico.opt XXXX’ to the second line
in the .LIC license file, where ‘XXXX’ is the desired port number.
After editing the .LIC file(s), the License Server has to be restarted by clicking on
“Shutdown”, then “Reread/Restart Servers” on the Server Administration page that is
accessible as described in the “License Server” section of this document.
Note that all .LIC license files have to be edited to same way.
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
Port 9000 for the License Server Webpage Admin. If needed, this port can be changed to a
custom port number in the “XYNTService.ini’ file.
1 - Open the XYNTService.ini file in Notepad to edit the port number
2 - The Server Webpage Admin should now refer to the same port number
Disk space: 2MB
Memory: 3MB
Notes:
 Licenses are stored in the folder C:\ProgramData\Vico Software\VicoLM
 SUL and Floating Licenses cannot be installed on the same system
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Configuration Options
The Vico Office solution can be installed in various configurations. This section provides an overview of
the available installation options and describes typical usage for each.
Configuration 1 – “Standalone”
Configuration 1 is recommended for demonstration and
offline work only.
In this configuration, Vico Office and Vico Project Server are
installed on the same system, which means that the same
computer is both server and client. Project databases, Master
database and Shared database are available without
connecting to a server.
Note:
The communication between Vico Office and VPS takes place
via TCP/IP. Server and client both have the same TCP/IP
address – this is considered a threat by most antivirus and
firewall software. If it is not possible to make adjustments to
firewall and/or antivirus software, Vico advises against the
use of configuration 1.
With the ‘Standalone’ configuration,
both Vico Office and VPS are installed
on the same machine
Configuration 2 – “LAN” (Recommended)
Configuration 2 is recommended for most use
cases.
In this configuration, a dedicated system is setup
as Vico Project Server, and work stations with
Vico Office installed connect to the VPS over a
Local Area Network.
Multiple users can access the same project at the
same time, which enables “Work As One”:
parallel work on a project as a team.
Option 1 – with locally installed Single User Licenses
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Two options are possible for licensing:
1. With locally installed single user licenses
2. With a License Server and Floating
licenses – users ‘pull’ licenses for the
various modules from a pool of licenses
installed on the server
Note:
Because of hardware limitations of the server
(related to memory usage), a large number of
users might require additional VPS-s to be setup.
Option 2 – with License Server and Floating Licenses
Configuration 3 – “WAN”
Configuration 3 is designed to
provide on-site project teams
access to a VLM License Server
that is setup in the office.
This configuration requires access
to the VLM Server from outside
the office; this can be achieved by
placing the license server
computer inside a ‘DMZ’.
Setting up a License Server in the DMZ can provide access to
floating licenses from outside the office.
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Working Offline
Offline work is supported through the “Compare & Update” functionality in Vico Office. To work offline
on a project that exists on a project server, the following steps are required:
1. Create a project on the system that will be taken offline
2. Run Compare & Update and copy all project content from the
project server to the new project
3. Work offline
4. Connect to the project server and open the project from the server
5. Run Compare & Update and copy the changes to the server
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Installation Options
The Vico Software installer provides four software installation options:
Vico Office (VO)
Installs the Vico Office software without the Vico Project Server. After installation, the Vico Project
Server that will contain projects can be specified by entering a network IP address or a computer name.
Vico Project Server (VPS)
Installs the component that will run the Project databases, Master database and Shared database. Select
this option if you want to run databases on your local system.
Vico Office with Vico Project Server
This option installs both Vico Office and the Vico Project Server, which results in configuration 1,
described in previous section.
Vico License Manager (VLM)
With this option, only the license server component is installed, which allows for installation of floating
licenses that can be used by other computers that are connected via LAN or WAN.
Note: Vico Office cannot be installed on a system with VLM installed, as Vico Office requires a Single
User License for the Vico Office Client. Single User Licenses cannot be installed on license server
systems.
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System Configuration
Firewall Settings
Vico Office communicates with the Vico Project Server via the TCP/IP protocol. This communication
takes place through dedicated ports, which should be open on both Vico Office system and VPS system.
The Vico Office installer attempts to make required changes in the Windows firewall. Any additionally
installed firewall software should be configured manually.
Additionally, the Vico License Manager and the Vico Crash Reporter require specific ports to be open. In
addition to the systems on which the software is running, the License Manager and Crash Reporter may
require ports to be open on installed firewalls on routers and modems, to be able to communicate with
respectively the Vico Software license administration system and the Vico Crash Report server.
The table below provides an overview of all open port requirements and program exceptions.
Note: in case of 5019, 5088 and 6000-6200 ports/port range we recommend setting the exception for
the related .exe process.
Port
Process
5019
versantd.exe
5088
NotificationDaemon.exe
6000-6200
obe.exe
20, 21, 1026, 1027
chilkat.exe
Component(s)







2764 and additional
random port (or
specified explicitly as
described in “Vico
License Manager
Requirements”)
9000


Vico Office
Vico Project Server
Vico Office
Vico Project Server
Vico Office
Vico Project Server
Vico Office
(Crash Report Uploader)
Vico Office
Vico License Server

Vico License Server
Open on
Router/Modem
No
No
No
Yes
No
(Yes in case of
WAN access to
license server)
No
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UAC Settings
Windows User Access Control can block the Vico Project Server to Vico Office communication in the
specific case where:


UAC is active
and
The user account does not have “Administrator” rights
If it is not possible to deactivate UAC, or to provide the user with an “Administrator” account, Vico
Office can be started in elevated mode by running the program as Administrator (right-click on the Vico
Office program shortcut, select properties and select the “Run this program as an administrator”
option).
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Licensing Process
The licensing process for Vico Software consists of three steps:
1. Receive a License Installation Utility
file (LIU).
This can be a new license, or an
existing license that is reassigned
using the Customer Portal.
2. Copy the LIU file to the target
computer. For Single User Licenses,
this is the computer that will be used
with Vico Office; for Floating
Licenses, this is the License Server
computer.
3. Initiate the license generation
process by double-clicking on the LIU
file.
The License Installation Utility (part
of Vico Office) connects with the Vico
License Management Server and
generates a hardware specific license
file.
The resulting license file is stored in the following folder: C:\ProgramData\Vico Software\VicoLM
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License Management Server Connection Failure
In case of a License Management
Server connection failure, the
License Installation Utility displays
a message and automatically
generates a License Request File.
The License Request File should be
sent as an attachment to
[email protected]
Note that only the request file should be attached to an otherwise empty e-mail. No edits or other
attachments are allowed! (Edited e-mails and additional attachments will result in failure of the
automatic process!)
After receipt of the request file, an email with the license file is automatically sent by the Vico License
Management Server. Next, the license file should be saved on the target computer. Double click the file
to finish the installation.
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Virtualization
Vico Software does support a system configuration in a virtualized environment; however, standard
licensing will not work. For licensing on virtual systems, please contact your Vico account representative.
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