Business Server Activation
Thank you for purchasing AlphaCard ID Suite Business Server!
The installation of the Small Business Server edition can take some time, so please review all of the steps below before starting. To begin the installation, you will need several items:
- A central computer (preferably a server) with full Administrative Rights
- For the Server to be on the same network as the Client computers
- A shared network location to store assets such as your card design files and cardholder database
If you do not have access to these requirements, of if you do not want a product that has a central link structure, please contact your Sales Representative for replacement software.
Once you a ready to begin the installation, you must begin with the Server install before moving on to Client computers. The Clients will not work without the Server installation.
Before you begin, please download the Business Server Install.rar from this link: https://alphacard.com/SBS_Install.zip
Configuring the License Manager
There are five steps to this configuration. They must be completed before any other installation can take place.
Step 1: Install the License Manager Service
Click the above link to download the License Manager. Open the folder and run the setup.exe. file, changing none of the default settings.
Accept the terms in the license agreement and click Next.
Once the License Manager is done installing, click Finish to finish installing the License Manager.
Step 2: Copy the License Manager tools to the Server
Included in the file you downloaded will be a folder named Tools. Copy this folder from the download file to this location on your Server: C:\Program Files\Common Files\SafeNet Sentinel\Tools
Step 3: Set the location of the license file
The License Manager will store its license codes in a plain text file. This file can be located anywhere on the Server. The Windows user that owns the License Manager Service process, typically the Local System Administrator, needs to have read and write access to this location.
To set the location of this license file, follow these steps:
- Right Click on My Computer and select Properties.
- If you are using Windows Vista or Windows 7, click on Advanced System Settings.
- Click on the Environment Variable button in the Advanced tab.
- Click on New in the Systems Variables box.
- Enter LSERVRC as the variable name.
- Enter the complete path of the license file in the Variable Value box. The Directory of the path should exist while the file itself should not exist. The name of the file is arbitrary, and can be anything you choose, such as AlphaCard.licenses.
Click Ok until all windows are closed.
Step 4: Retrieving the activation information for the license
To make it possible for AlphaCard ID Suite to create an activated file, you will need to retrieve the Machine ID of the server computer. Run the Machine ID Tool that was included in the folder your downloaded earlier.
Your Machine ID will look like this. This is a sample Machine ID code, your code will be different. Please submit your Machine ID code, not the sample code.
Once you have the Machine ID, you will need to activate your license. To do so, go to the manual activation page.
On this page you will need to enter the software Serial Number, the Activation Code you were provided upon purchase, and the Machine ID.
Once the license is activated, which can take up to five minutes, you will be prompted to download the activated.lic file. Save this file in a safe location, you will need it for the next step.
Step 5: Install the license codes
To install the license codes on Server, follow these steps:
- Run the program WImAdmin.exe from the tools folder you moved to your Server in Step 2.
- Select the preferences in the Edit menu.
- Check the following options: Discover defined servers at startup, and save these preferences to a file.
- Click Ok to close the preferences window.
- Select Defined Server List in the Edit menu.
- Type localhost in the Server box, and click Add and then Ok to close the window.
- Right click on the localhost mode in the Defined Servers tree, and select Add Feature-from a file- to server and its file.
- Select the License Code file that you download in Step 4.
The license codes are now installed. You will need to click Ok for each code.
The localhost node should now have one sub-node for each license code. The file you specified in the first step has been created, and now contains the license codes.
The License Manager is now ready for use. Leave the WImAdmin tool open until you’ve tested the License Manager.
Once these steps have been completed, you have successfully installed the Server component of the Small Business Server software, and can now begin installing Client Locations.
Installing Client Locations
Client installation is a three-step process. Follow these steps to property install and activate your software on each client computer.
Step 1: Installing the AlphaCard ID Suite Clients
Install the client using the disc or download you were given when you purchased AlphaCard ID Suite Business Server.
Step 2: Configure AlphaCard ID Suite for using the License Manager
When AlphaCard ID Suite is installed on your system, it will install a default initialization file. This file needs to be modified for the Business Server to function correctly. To modify the file, follow these steps:
- Open the AlphaCard.ini file in Notepad. By default, this file can be found here: C:\Program Files\AlphaCard\AlphaCard ID Suite.
- Search for the License Server setting in the Basic Settings group. By default, this option is set to “no-net” which means no license manager is used.
- Set the correct license server by replacing “no-net” with the name or IP address of the license server. If you are installing AlphaCard ID Suite directly onto the server, you can type “local-host”.
- Close and Save the AlphaCard.ini file.
- Start AlphaCard ID Suite.
Startup times with AlphaCard ID Suite with License Manager are slower than using a stand-alone license, be patient waiting for the AlphaCard ID Suite window to appear. Once AlphaCard ID Suite is running, go back to the WImAdmin tool, right click on Defined Server, and select Refresh.
You should now see the Client using one of your licenses. Once this is active, you need to install the AlphaCard ID Suite software on the client computer and make these same changes on every machine you want to be a Client.
If you want to use a shared data folder among all your Client Licenses, proceed to Step 3. If you do not want shared data, then your installation of AlphaCard ID Suite Small Business Server is complete.
Step 3: Sharing the Data Folder
If you want to use a shared database folder, Copy a fresh data folder from one of the Client installs and move it to a shared drive where all client users can access it.
Once you have moved the database folder to this central location, open the AlphaCard.ini file that you had previously edited. Change the Data Folder line to match the location of the shared data folder you just moved.
When the data folder is shared between multiple concurrent sessions, AlphaCard ID Suite will only allow one user to have write privileges (able to make card designs), and the rest of the users will have read-only access (able to print cards).
By default, the first users to log into AlphaCard ID Suite from a Client computer will have write access, and all subsequent users will have read-only access. This setting can be changed by clicking Share Data Folder in the Configuration tab of AlphaCard ID Suite.
Your AlphaCard ID Suite Business Server software should now be installed on your Server and each Client Computer, and ready for use! If you continue to experience problems, please contact AlphaCard technical support.
