Download user guide - Snow Software

USER GUIDE
Product
Snow Inventory Data Processor
Version
4.6.03
Release date
2015-06-17
Document date
2015-06-17
CONTENT
ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT ......................................................................................................................................... 3
PREREQUISITES ........................................................................................................................................................ 3
INSTALLATION .......................................................................................................................................................... 4
CREATE DATABASE INDEXES MANUALLY ........................................................................................................................ 8
CONFIGURATION...................................................................................................................................................... 9
CONFIGURATION FILE OPTIONS ................................................................................................................................... 9
Settings ........................................................................................................................................................... 9
DataManagement ........................................................................................................................................ 12
Logging ......................................................................................................................................................... 13
Database ...................................................................................................................................................... 13
ChangeTracking ............................................................................................................................................ 14
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ABOUT THIS DOCUMENT
This document describes how to install and configure Snow Inventory Data Processor 4.6.
PREREQUISITES
Very important! Read before beginning the installation.

Verify that the server meets the system requirements for this product; see the document
System Requirements for all Snow products, which is available for download at
www.snowsoftware.com.

Make sure that Snow Inventory server is installed and running on the same server.
Snow Inventory Data Processor only supports Snow Inventory server 3.2.1 or later.

The Snow License Manager 6.2 database (or later) must reside on the same SQL server as the
Snow Inventory Database prior to the installation.

Have the license key for Snow Inventory available.

Have a SQL Server administration user account and password available with db_owner access
to the Snow Inventory database.

Verify that Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5 is installed on the server.
Before installation:
o
In the Add Roles and Features Wizard, make sure that the Application Server role is
enabled, and that the .NET Framework 4.5 feature is enabled.
If the .NET Framework 4.5 feature is not available, the required version of .NET
Framework is not installed on the server.

If Snow Inventory Data Processor is to be installed on a Windows Server 2008 SP1, Windows
Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2012, start the setup with the Run as Administrator
option.

Upgrading from a previous version:
o All previous versions of Snow Inventory Data Processor must be uninstalled before
the upgrade. Uninstall using the Windows Control Panel.
NOTE:

Configuration settings will be removed when a previous version of Snow
Inventory Data Processor is uninstalled. Prior to the uninstallation, make a
copy of the configuration file SnowIDP.ini to use as reference.
BEFORE YOU BEGIN – BACK UP ALL YOUR DATABASES!
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INSTALLATION
To start the installation, double-click the setup file SnowIDPSetup.exe.
NOTE:
If Snow Inventory Data Processor is to be installed on a Windows Server 2008 SP1,
Windows Server 2008 R2, or Windows Server 2012, start the setup with the Run as
Administrator option.
1.
The Snow Inventory Data Processor
installation wizard is started.
2.
Click Next.
3.
Read and accept the terms of the End
User License Agreement.
4.
Click Next.
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5.
Enter the Organisation/Company name
and License Key for Snow Inventory Data
Processor, as supplied by Snow Software.
6.
Click Next to verify the product license
and continue.
7.
Select destination folder for the Snow
Inventory Data Processor installation.
8.
Click Next.
9.
Specify the installation folder for the
Snow Inventory Server.
10. Click Next.
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11. The installation program will try to automatically configure
the database connection based on the information found in
the Snow Inventory Server configuration (server.ini).
12. If the connection information is incorrect, or somehow inaccessible, enter the connection
settings manually instead.
Enter the Server Name for the SQL
Server. Enter the complete server name
– it is not recommended to use localhost
as server name.
Enter User Name and Password of an
SQL Server database administration
account (db_owner access is required).
Click Next.
13. Click Next to start the installation.
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14. Select to create database indexes at this
point, or to do it manually after the
installation (recommended for large
inventory databases).
See section Create database indexes
manually.
15. The installation is completed.
Click Finish to exit the Snow Inventory
Data Processor installation wizard.
The Snow Inventory Data Processor is
installed as a Windows service –
Snow Inventory Data Processor.
Page 7 of 14
CREATE DATABASE INDEXES MANUALLY
For large Snow Inventory databases it is recommended to create the database indexes manually after
the installation of the Snow Inventory Data Processor. Note that the process might take several hours
to complete.
1. Open SQL Server Management Studio.
2. Connect to the database server.
3. Click New Query.
4. Select the database SNOWDB.
5. To remove any existing database indexes (required after an upgrade), run the following
query:
exec IndexesRemove
Wait for the message “Command(s) completed successfully”.
6. To create database indexes, run the following query:
exec IndexesAdd
Wait for the message “Command(s) completed successfully”.
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CONFIGURATION
The configuration file of the Snow Inventory Data Processor (IDP) is named SnowIDP.ini and it is
placed in the following folder path during installation (default installation):
C:\Program files\Snow Software\Inventory Data Processor
The configuration file consists of five sections:
 Settings
 DataManagement
 Logging
 Database
 ChangeTracking
CONFIGURATION FILE OPTIONS
SETTINGS
The Settings section includes, for example, settings for when the IDP will process inventory files and
definitions of what type of software files to store in the Inventory database.
Configuration parameter
Description
Company=
Organization name, entered during installation
LicenseKey=
License key, entered during installation
IncomingFolder=
Drop folder for incoming inventory files
Default = C:\Program Files\Snow Software\Snow
Inventory\Server\Data\Incoming
StartTime=
Time of day when the IDP will start processing of
inventory files, used together with StopTime. Note that
StartTime can be set to a later time of the day than
StopTime.
Example: When StartTime=23:00 and StopDate=05:00,
the IDP will process files between 23:00 and 05:00 at
night.
If StartTime and StopTime are the same, processing of
inventory files will always run.
Default = 00:00
StopTime=
Time of day when the IDP will stop processing of inventory
files, used together with StartTime. If StartTime and
StopTime are the same, processing of inventory files will
always run.
Default = 00:00
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Configuration parameter
Description
ProcessOnStart=<yes/no>
Set to yes, the IDP will start processing inventory files
immediately upon service start.
Default = yes
EnableInvFileHistory=<yes/no>
Set to yes, all processed inventory files will be stored in
the folder …\Incoming\HISTORY_INV.
Set to no, all processed inventory files will be discarded.
Default = no
EnableXmlFileHistory=<yes/no>
Set to yes, all processed XML files will be stored in the
folder …\Incoming\HISTORY_XML.
Set to no, all processed XML files will be discarded.
Default = no
XmlFileHistoryOnErrorsOnly=<yes/no>
Set to yes and with EnableXmlFileHistory=yes, processed
XML files will only be stored if errors occur. The files will
be stored in the folder …\Incoming\Error
Default = no
MinClientVersion=
Minimum required version of Snow Inventory Client for
Windows. Inventory files from older client versions will
not be processed.
Default = 3.2 - Do not change.
AllowedSoftwareFileExtensions=
Definition of inventoried software file types to be
processed by the IDP. Define either
AllowedSoftwareFileExtensions or
IllegalSoftwareFileExtensions.
Default = EXE,WFD,WFI,WTD,WTI,SYS2
IllegalSoftwareFileExtensions=
Definition of inventoried software file types not to be
processed by the IDP. Define either
IllegalSoftwareFileExtensions or
AllowedSoftwareFileExtensions.
Default=[blank]
MultiProcessCount=
Allowed number of files that concurrently can be
processed by the IDP.
Default = 10
UseLegacyXML=<yes/no>
Set to yes, Legacy XML decoding will be used (slower).
Set to no, built-in XML decoding will be used.
Default = yes
DropDuplicateFiles=<yes/no>
Set to no.
Set to yes only when you need to process an inventory file
backlog. In case of two (or more) inventory files from the
same client, only the newest file be processed.
Default = no
FileProcessingBatchSize=
Maximum allowed number of files to pick up from the
incoming folder at the same time
Default = 10000
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Configuration parameter
Description
DataUpdateJob=
Name of the Data Update Job
Default = License Manager Data Update
SuspendProcessingOnDataUpdateJob=<yes/no>
Set to yes, processing will be paused when the Data
Update Job is running.
Default = yes
UseDiskStorageForInvFileProcessing=<yes/no>
Set to yes, inventory files will be unpacked and decrypted
on disk.
Set to no, inventory files will be unpacked and decrypted
in memory/RAM.
Default = no
InvFileMaxSizeMB=
Maximum allowed size of an inventory file. If file size is
exceeded, the file will not be processed.
Default = 5
EncodingFallback=
Fallback encoding to be used if the XML file cannot be
read using the encoding defined in the file.
Available encodings are: UTF8, ASCII, Unicode, and
Default (operating system default encoding)
Default = [blank]
WeeklyClientProcessing=
Set to yes, a full update of the inventory information on
the clients will be limited to once a week. The other days
of the week only information regarding login user history
and metering (application usage) will be updated.
Consequently, Virtual Machine Host History will only be
updated once a week.
When this parameter is set to yes the
HardwareUpdateInterval parameter will be ignored.
Default = no
NOTE: This setting does not apply to clients with Windows
Server operating systems. They are fully updated every
day.
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DATAMANAGEMENT
The DataManagement section determines, for example, how often hardware information will be
updated. It is also possible to limit the amount of information to be stored in the Inventory database
which can be useful for SPE platforms in particular.
Configuration parameter
Description
HardwareUpdateInterval=
Number of days between update of hardware information for each
inventoried client. Set to 0, hardware information will always be
updated.
This setting will be ignored when WeeklyClientProcessing = yes.
Default = 0
LicenseManagerLimitation=<yes/no>
Set to yes, information stored in the database is limited to only
include information presented in Snow License Manager.
Default = no
AllowHostnameAsDomain=<yes/no>
Set to yes, the computer name is allowed to be used as domain part
of the logon name (logon locally scenarios).
Default = yes
ClearUserDomain=<yes/no>
Set to yes, the domain part is allowed to be removed from the logon
name.
Default = no
UserNameSuffixRemoval=
Regular expression.
Default = [blank] - Do not change.
DiscardEnvironmentVariables=
Set to yes, information on environment variables will not be
processed by the IDP.
Default = no
DiscardNTServices=
Set to yes, information on Windows services will not be processed by
the IDP.
Default = no
DiscardDeviceDrivers=
Set to yes, information on device drivers will not be processed by the
IDP.
Note also that information on device drivers will be discarded when
LicenseManagerLimitation = yes.
Default = no
DiscardNetworkAdapters=
Set to yes, information on network adapters will not be processed by
the IDP.
Default = no
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LOGGING
The Logging section determines log level and log size.
Configuration parameter
Description
ClearLogAtStartup=<yes/no>
Enable/disable clearing of log file at service startup.
Default = yes
DisplayInfoMessages=<yes/no>
Enable/disable presentation of information messages in the log
file.
Default = no
DisplayWarnings=<yes/no>
Enable/disable presentation of warnings in the log file.
Default = yes
DisplayErrors=<yes/no>
Enable/disable presentation of errors in the log file.
Default = yes
DisplayDebugInfo=<yes/no>
Enable/disable presentation of debug information in the log file.
Default = no
MaxLogSize=
Maximum allowed size of the log file (in KB). If file size is exceeded,
a new file is created. The old is saved as an historic log file (.old),
but will be overwritten the next time the log file exceeds the limit.
Default = 2048
Statistics=<yes/no>
Set to yes, the log file will be extended with Performance statistics.
Default = no
LogClientProcessingUpdates=<yes/no>
Set to yes, extended logging with information on each completed
client processing will be written to the log file.
Default = no
DATABASE
The Database section includes settings for the connection to the Inventory database. All settings but
Pooling are entered during the installation of the IDP.
Configuration parameter
Description
Server=
Server name, entered during installation
Database=
Inventory database name, entered during installation
Username=
Username, entered during installation
Password=
Password (encrypted), entered during installation
Pooling=<yes/no>
Set to yes, SQL will manage the connection pooling mechanism.
Default = yes
Integrated=<yes/no>
Set to yes, Windows Authentication will be used.
Default = no
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CHANGETRACKING
The ChangeTracking section determines handling of historical changes of the hardware that the IDP
is running on. Use the settings to enable (yes) or disable (no) archiving of hardware information for
historical tracing.
Configuration parameter
Description
CustomData=<yes/no>
Default = no
CustomRegKey=<yes/no>
Default = no
EnviromentVariables=<yes/no>
Default = no
LogicalDisks=<yes/no>
Default = no
Memory=<yes/no>
Default = no
NetworkAdapters=<yes/no>
Default = no
NetworkConnections=<yes/no>
Default = no
NTServices=<yes/no>
Default = no
OperatingSystem=<yes/no>
Default = no
Printers=<yes/no>
Default = no
Software=<yes/no>
Default = no
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