ReadMe File

This readme.txt file contains known issues or problems in Express Software Manager Version 9.0. See the Online Help (Express.chm) and QuickStart Guide (QuickStart.chm) for details about installing and using Express Software Manager 9.0.

Express Metrix Technical Support Web Site

Visit the Express Metrix Technical Support web site for additional documentation and technical notes related to Express.

Evaluating Express Software Manager?

Please visit the Express Metrix Evaluation web site for useful information on evaluating.

Important — Restarting Your System

The Express Setup program may prompt you to restart your computer after you have installed Express. If you are prompted but do not restart your computer Express may not run properly.

Important — Only Run Setup From a Local Drive

You should not run setup directly off a share, rather, copy the files to a local disk first. Attempting to run setup from a share may not allow you access to setup help files and certain setup utilities designed to evaluate where components should be installed may not work properly.

Additional Information and Recommendations

Microsoft SQL Server

Express Software Manager 9.0 uses Microsoft SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, SQL Server 2008, MSDE 2000, or SQL Server Express (2005 or 2008) for data storage. Express Software Manager requires that SQL Server 2000 or MSDE 2000 installations be at the SP3 level or above. The Requirements Check utility will alert you if your installation of SQL Server needs to be upgraded.

Express Software Manager setup creates an Express user in the database server for use by Express Software Manager components. You must be a SQL Server administrator (a Windows account with SQL Server sysadmin privilege) during database setup to create this user and the Express Database. Once created, the Express user is used by all Express Software Manager components for subsequent database access.

Installing the Express Database Remotely or Without Administrative Privileges

Initialization of the Express Database requires that Express Software Manager setup be run on the database server machine and that you are a SQL Server administrator. Setup provides instructions on how to set up your Express Database when one or both of these requirements cannot be met. In either case you should:

  1. Run Express Software Manager setup on another workstation and select the Remote Database Install option. The tools required to initialize the Express Database will be installed but not run. Installation is to the Express Metrix\Database Tools folder in the machine's Program Files directory.
  2. Read the information in RemoteExpressDatabase.txt which presents a number of scenarios of how to perform database initialization when the above requirements cannot be met.

Installing .NET 3.5 sp1

The server-side components of Express Software Manager 9.0 require Microsoft .NET 3.5 sp1. Esmsetup.exe will check for this and launch .NET setup, if required. .NET 3.5 sp1 requires version 3.1 of the Windows Installer. If you need to upgrade Windows Installer to install .NET, you can find the 3.1 installation kit in the WindowsInstaller31 folder of the distribution.

Installing .NET from CD-ROM

Express Software Manager is built using Microsoft's .NET Framework technology. All non-client components require that the .NET Framework be installed. The .NET installation package is included with Express Software Manager and can be installed as a part of Express Software Manager setup. The .NET Framework cannot be installed directly from CD-ROM. If you are installing Express Software Manager from CD-ROM, you must copy the DOTNET folder from the CD to a temporary location on your hard drive and run .NET setup from there. (After .NET setup completes, you can safely delete the DOTNET folder.)

Categories in the Express Software Identification Database (ESID)

Version 9.0 includes support for application categorization. Most applications in the ESID have been assigned an application category which will be applied when the ESID is updated or new applications are configured.

The ESID is updated only if newer than the one in your current Express Database. If you upgrade to version 9.0 and the ESID in your pre-9.0 Express Database is newer than that supplied with version 9.0, you will need to download the current ESID from the Express Metrix website and reapply it to get the new category data.

You can download the current ESID by clicking on the ESID version link in the Express Administrative Console's Express Today panel. Log in with the information you were provided on purchase and follow the instructions to install (or reinstall) the current version.

Windows 2003 Server Installation Issues

If you are installing the client or any of the server portions of Express Software Manager on Windows 2003 Server, please read this section for information about what configuration settings you need to verify.

Installing Required WMI Support

Some Windows 2003 Server installations come without all the required WMI support installed. Without full WMI support, the Express client (inventory and metering functionality) will not operate correctly. To add the required WMI support:

  1. From Start->Control Panel, select Add/Remove Programs
  2. Select Add/Remove Windows Components
  3. Select Management and Monitoring Tools and make sure the WMI Windows Installation Provider component is installed on your Windows 2003 Server

Installing and Configuring the SMTP Service for E-mail Notification

Express Software Manager 9.0 includes functionality to send an alert e-mail message to an address you specify if the Express Access Point becomes unreachable. If the Express Server component is running on Windows 2003 Server and you want to use that machine to send out the e-mail alerts, you may need to install and configure the mail server.

To install and configure the mail server on your Windows 2003 Server:

  1. Select Start->Manage Your Server and click Add or remove a role
  2. Click Next to view the status of all defined server roles
  3. Locate Mail server (POP3, SMTP) - if it is not specified as configured, select it and click Next
  4. Select an authentication method, enter your company's internal domain name, and click Next
  5. Click Next; the Windows Component Wizard will install and configure the mail service
  6. Click Finish, then close the Manage Your Server utility

Enabling ASP and ASP.NET on Windows 2003 Server

The Express Software Manager Access Point and new web-based reporting both utilize ASP.NET, .NET functionality provided via web services running on IIS. Following installation of .NET, you may need to enable ASP.NET and ASP in IIS6 (the IIS version which runs on Windows 2003 Server) for the access point and web reporting to work properly.

We strongly recommend you do this after .NET installation but prior to the actual installation of Express Software Manager so these two components can be registered properly during setup. You can do this immediately after the .NET installation completes without terminating Express Software Manager setup.

To enable ASP and ASP.NET in IIS6 running on Windows 2003 Server:

  1. From the Start menu, select Administrative Tools/IIS Manager
  2. Open the local computer node and click on Web Service Extensions
  3. In the right panel, locate ASP.NET v2.0.50727
  4. If the status is Prohibited, select it and click the Allow button
  5. Do the same for the Active Server Pages entry
  6. Exit IIS Manager

IIS on Windows 2003 Server 64-bit

Express web functionality requires use of 32-bit ASP.NET. If you are installing to Windows 2003 Server 64-bit, setup will automatically set the 32-bit compatibility mode setting in IIS and register 32-bit ASP.NET. (On Windows Vista 64-bit and Windows 2008 Server 64-bit, IIS can run both 32- and 64-bit applications simultaneously so no settings change is necessary.)

Note: this impacts your entire IIS installation - it is not possible to set this for only a part of the web site.

If you have any other .NET applications which rely on 64-bit ASP.NET, they will no longer work properly. If you have already run setup and want to re-enable 64-bit ASP.NET, you should do the following:

  1. Uninstall any Express Software Manager web components (Access Point and Reports Web Site) - they can be installed on another machine, such as a VM, where running IIS in 32-bit compatibility mode is not a problem.
  2. Execute the following commands:

    cscript %SYSTEMDRIVE%\inetpub\adminscripts\adsutil.vbs SET W3SVC/AppPools/Enable32bitAppOnWin64 0

    %SYSTEMROOT%\Microsoft.NET\Framework64\v2.0.50727\aspnet_regiis.exe -i

    This will disable 32-bit compatibility and re-register the 64-bitversion of ASP.NET.

Enabling ASP and ASP.NET on IIS7

To enable ASP, ASP.NET and Static Content on IIS7 (Vista/2008 Server and above), do the following:

  1. From the Control Panel, click Programs and Features.
  2. Click Turn Windows features on or off.
  3. In the Windows Features dialog box, click Internet Information Services.
  4. Expand the Internet Information Services folder, and then expand the World Wide Web Services folder. Expand the Application Development Features folder, and make sure ASP and ASP.NET are both marked.
  5. Under the World Wide Web Services folder, expand the Common HTTP Features folder and make sure Static Content is marked.
  6. Click OK.

Application Names/Versions

Express Software Manager 8.0 and above change the way application names and version information are displayed and stored. The difference will be evident with Windows Operating System license units, as well as other applications that can be automatically configured from the Express Software Identification Database based on both their executable signature and their product GUID (for example, Microsoft Project Standard and Microsoft Project Professional). You may also see this behavior if you have modified the name or version information for an automatically-configured application. When you upgrade to 9.0 from version 7.6 or earlier, such applications will revert back to the original name/versions they were originally configured with.

Specifying the SQL Server Machine and SQL Server Instance Names

The SQL Server dropdown list in the Express Administrative Console's Tools/Connection/Express Database dialog shows server names only. If you are using a non-default instance of SQL Server on your server machine, you must append a "\" and the instance name to the server name. For example, if your database server is MYSERVER and you are running on an "ESM" SQL Server instance, you must specify MYSERVER\ESM as the server name.

Installing the Express Database on a Machine Running SQL Server 2008

Microsoft added enhanced security in SQL Server 2008. To successfully install the database component of Express Software Manager on SQL Server 2008, you must run setup under an account which has been granted the "sysadmin" role in SQL Server. (You are given the option of the current user being granted the "sysadmin" role during SQL Server 2008 setup, however, that setting is not enabled by default.) If you did not add your account to that role during SQL Server 2008 installation, you must do so prior to running Express Software Manager setup.

See http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc280562.aspx for more information about SQL Server 2008 security changes.

Permanently Deleting Machines from the Administrative Console

Normally when a machine is deleted from within the Express Administrative Console, the Express Client is uninstalled and the machine is moved into the Deleted folder. Deleted machines can be permanently deleted, however, this is most commonly done when a machine has been physically removed from the network. If you permanently delete a machine (via shift-delete) while the machine is connected to the network and the client is still installed, it will be deleted and removed from the Express Database before the client can be uninstalled. When the client next checks in, the machine will be readded to the Express Database. For machines on the network which have the client installed, you should always delete (vs. permanently delete) them first and allow the uninstall to complete successfully.

Using SSL on the Express Access Point

Express Software Manager may be configured to use an SSL connection for secure communications between the Express Client and the Express Access Point. Using SSL requires that you have obtained and installed a server certificate in IIS and specify the associated IIS web site and port number during access point installation. Setup normally registers an installed access point as the final step of access point installation, however, this is not done in the SSL case as the exact format of the server name specified in the SSL certificate is not known. If you are using SSL, you must manually register the Express Access Point once setup completes. Please refer to "Registering the Access Point" in Technical Note 2018 for more information.

Uninstalling on Windows Server 2008

If you uninstall an ESM installation that includes the Express Server component, you may receive a message indicating that setup could not stop the Express Server and that you should do so before continuing. If this message appears, it can be ignored and you can simply click OK to continue. If another dialog appears saying setup could not terminate the Express Server, click OK again to complete the uninstall.

Later installation of SQL Server 2008

Express Software Manager 9.0 setup includes several small SQL 2008 components for situations where server pieces will be connecting to a SQL 2008 Server. One of these components, the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Native Client, can cause problems with subsequent installation of SQL Server 2008 itself. If you install SQL Server 2008 sometime after installing ESM 9.0 and the installation fails, try uninstalling the Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Native Client component, then rerun SQL Server 2008 setup

Windows Installer

Express Software Manager 9.0 provides functionality that allows installation of the Express Client from the Express Administrative Console. This feature requires that the workstations to which you are installing be running a version 2.0 or higher of the Microsoft Windows Installer. Go to the Microsoft Download Center (www.microsoft.com/downloads), search for "MSI", and select the appropriate download.

Express Software Manager Updated License Key

If you are upgrading from Express Software Manager version 7.0 or 7.5, you will need to apply a new license key for certain functionality to be available. The new key format was first introduced with version 7.6 and an updated key was emailed to you when 7.6 shipped (March/April, 2006). If you are unable to locate it, please contact Express Metrix sales at 1.888.611.2288 (sales@expressmetrix.com) or support at 1.888.826.2288 (support@expressmetrix.com). Once you have completed the 9.0 upgrade, click on the Change link in the Licensed Features section of the Express Today page in the Administrative Console to apply the new key.

Note: if you are upgrading from Express Software Manager 7.6 or later, the key you entered when you installed 7.6 also applies to 9.0 and you do not need to enter a different key.

Use of Registry Setting to Modify Discovery Behavior

If you are upgrading from version 7.0 and are using a registry entry on the machine running the Express Server to force discovery to look at an Active Directory other than the one your Express Server machine is a part of, please contact Technical Support at support@expressmetrix.com.

Last updated: 25-March-2009