Inventory Pro - Installation Guide

To begin, Ensure that you have administrative rights on the server. And that you have the SQL Server instance installed and the credentials available. If you have any trouble during the Inventory Pro installation please contact CISS with the details of the problem(s) you are encountering.

• Windows Server 2016 or newer
• SQL Server Standard / Express 2017 or newer
• SQL Server Management Studio ( Latest Version )
• IIS Rewrite Module 2
• Firefox or Chrome web browser
• Inventory Pro Installation Media
• Inventory Pro Database Media

Internet Explorer cannot be used for testing the applications, In the default server configuration, it will hide any error states and make it very difficult to debug any configuration errors.

Below is the overall process to set up Inventory Pro.

1. Review Prerequisites
2. Database
   1. Document Instance Name, Ports, User, Password
   2. Configure for local access, using SQL Login
   3. Configure default directories for backup, data, logs
   4. Load Database into SQL Server
3. Desktop Application
   1. Run Inventory Pro Desktop Installer
      1. The installer will configure IIS and required features
   2. Configure Inventory Pro Desktop
      1. Database Connection
      2. Authentication Options
      3. Default Directories
      4. SSL Config
4. Mobile Application
   1. Run Inventory Pro Mobile Installer
   2. Configure Inventory Pro Mobile
      1. Database Connection
      2. Authentication Options
      3. Default Directories
      4. SSL Config
5. Configure IIS
   1. Setup DNS Bindings (optional)
   2. Setup SSL Certificate (optional)
6. Other Steps ( CISS can provide various suggestions and tools to assist your IT )
   1. Active Directory or Single Sign On (SSO)
   2. Backups ( Database / Application / Files )
   3. Maintenance Operations
   4. Scheduled Tasks / Alerts

This is a quick start guide, If your IT or DBA would like to leverage active directory or other credential schemes those can be used as well. We will start after the SQL Server has been installed and can be logged into.

1. Extract the Database from the .zip file provided.
2. Open SQL Management Studio and Login.
3. Right-click the Server Instance Name, and Select Properties.
   1. Open the Security Tab, Enable Mixed SQL Server and Windows Authentication Mode, and Click OK.
   2. Right-click the Server Instance Name, and Select Restart.
   3. Wait for the progress bar to complete
4. Open a new Query
   1. Run the below script, replacing the password appropriately.

      CREATE LOGIN [ciss-ipol] WITH PASSWORD=N'password', DEFAULT_DATABASE=[master], CHECK_EXPIRATION=OFF, CHECK_POLICY=OFF

   2. Close the Query
5. Right Click Databases, and Choose Restore Database.
   1. Restore the provided database file as live_clientName2015 ( ex. “live_cissltd2015” ).
      1. If installing on a Demo, QA, or Dev instance use the appropriate prefix ( ex. demo, stage, qa, test )
      2. If you would like to sandbox or similar environment with a regular data reset, We can help with automation.
6. Open a new Query on the restored Database
   1. Run the following command on the Database to link the server and database login.

      EXEC sp_change_users_login ‘Auto_Fix’, ‘ciss-ipol’

7. At this point, the database should be operational
8. Other Notes
   1. SQL Server can be run on a dedicated server
      1. If doing so, Please open Firewall Ports appropriately
      2. If doing so, You may want to use an alternate port to the default

The installer is configured via the install.xml file included with each build. After installation, this file is stored at C:\CISS\ or C:\InventoryPro\ for future updates to reference.

Options:

• root - base inventory pro folder
• folder(2) - folder to install inventory pro to
• bin - folder containing reference binaries
• site - IIS Name for the Site
• appPool(2) - IIS Application Pool for the Site
• host - Primary hostname for the application

The installation package for Inventory Pro will automatically configure IIS and required modules, You may need to restart post-installation to complete the setup of these windows features. The installation is conducted based on the install.xml file stored in the installation media folder or at C:\InventoryPro\install.xml specifying location, application name, host URL and more. The installer also supports two instances, a primary and a secondary/demo instance on the same server, this can be configured using the install.xml file.

1. Extract the Install Package from the .zip file provided.
2. Open the folder you've extracted to, Double click the run.bat file in that folder.
3. The install program should now be open and presenting a variety of options.

       1. Install / Upgrade - This option will configure Windows Features, IIS, and SQL Tools. Then install Inventory Pro and validate.
       2. Partial Install / Upgrade - This option will simply install Inventory Pro and validate.
       3. Validate Installation - This option will check various settings / options to confirm the configuration is valid.
       4. Enable IIS Settings - This will configure IIS appropriately for Inventory Pro.
       5. Enable IIS Settings (SSO / Smart Card) - This will enable SSO / Smart Card options for Inventory Pro.
       6. Enable Windows Features - This will enable all required Windows Features.
       7. Install SQL Tools - This will download and install the latest MSOLEDBSQL Driver for Inventory Pro.
       8. Change Inventory Pro Configuration - This is an interactive menu to change certain install options.
       9. Uninstall Inventory Pro - This will attempt to remove the Inventory Pro application.

4. For an initial install, Select Option 1. The installer will run for roughly 10 minutes and may ask for input at times.
5. When the installer completes the last few options will be validation steps, Check for any errors or configuration problems. If you need any assistance please contact CISS.

Do not move the application folder after it has been installed. 
If you have installed to the wrong directory please uninstall first,
then configure your install.xml file appropriately.

At this time the application should be available at http://localhost/Inventory Pro in a web browser, but will require configuration to be able to login. Please see the quick start configuration area below to continue.

Most of Inventory Pro's configuration from an IT perspective is done via the global.asa file in the root of the application folder. This file lists out a variety of url, security, email, and other settings.

Below you'll see the usual format of options,

Application("OptionName") = Value

Not all options may exist in your global.asa file, and may need to be added. Options can be added anywhere between Application.lock and Application.unlock.

For clients upgrading older installations - Update your connectionstring for SQL Server replacing “sqloledb” with “msoledbsql”, this may require an updated sql driver.

These are the core options to start using Inventory Pro. To get started you'll want to connect the database to the application. Below is an example of a valid connection string, You'll want to update this with your Server Name, SQL Instance Name, Database Name, User Name, and Password. By default we use the ciss-ipol username but that can be changed.

Application("ConnectionString") = "Data Source=ServerName\SQLInstanceName; Initial Catalog=Databasename; User Id=UserName; Password=Password; OLE DB Services=-4"

Additionally you'll want to configure SSL and URL Bindings in IIS, We recommend using Let's Encrypt for SSL if your organization does not have and existing framework for certificates.

We also recommend reviewing the following options.

If you would like to add a custom banner to the login screen ( terms of use, agreements, helpdesk information ) you can do so by adding an html file with your text in the framework folder.

CustomBanner.html

This file can use standard html tags for basic styling or css for advanced styling.

The installation package for Mobile will automatically configure IIS and required modules, You may need to restart post installation to complete setup of these windows features. The installation is conducted based on the install.xml file stored in the installation media folder or at C:\InventoryPro\install.xml specifying location. The installer also supports two instances, a primary and a secondary / demo instance on the same server, this can be configured using the install.xml file.

This operation should only be done after a successful installation of Inventory Pro.

1. Extract the Install Package from the .zip file provided.
2. Open the folder you've extracted to, Double click the run.bat file in that folder.
3. The install program should now be open and presenting a variety of options.

       1. Install / Upgrade - This option will configure Windows Features, IIS, and SQL Tools. Then install Mobile.
       2. Enable IIS Settings - This will configure IIS appropriately for Mobile.
       3. Enable Windows Features - This will enable all required Windows Features.
       4. Install SQL Tools - This will download and install the latest MSOLEDBSQL Driver for Mobile.

4. Select Option 1. The installer will run for roughly 2 minutes and may ask for input at times.
5. When the installer completes check for any errors or configuration problems. If you need any assistance please contact CISS.

At this time the application should be available at http://localhost/Inventory Pro/Mobile in a web browser, but will require configuration to be able to login. Please see the quick start configuration area below to continue.

Most of Inventory Pro's configuration from an IT perspective is done via the global.asa file in the root of the application folder. This file lists out a variety of url, security, email, and other settings.

Below you'll see the usual format of options,

<add key="Option" value="Value" />

Not all options may exist in your global.asa file, and may need to be added. Options can be added anywhere between Application.lock and Application.unlock.

These are the core options to start using Mobile. To get started you'll want to connect the database to the application. Below is an example of a valid connection string, You'll want to update this with your Server Name, SQL Instance Name, Database Name, User Name, and Password. By default we use the ciss-ipol username but that can be changed.

<add name="dbConnectionString" connectionString="server=ServerName\SQLInstanceName;database=DatabaseName;connection timeout=30;uid=UserName;password=Password;pooling=true" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" />

We also recommend reviewing the following options.

A full list of available barcode readers is below, You can use these in a comma delimited list.

1. code_128_reader (default)
2. upc_reader (default)
3. ean_reader
4. ean_8_reader
5. code_39_reader
6. code_39_vin_reader
7. codabar_reader
8. upc_e_reader
9. i2of5_reader
10. 2of5_reader
11. code_93_reader
12. code_32_reader