Mini Activation Server

Administration Guide

July 2011

www.actix.com
The content of this manual is provided for information only, is subject to change without
notice, and should not be construed as a commitment by Actix. Actix assumes no
responsibility or liability for any errors or inaccuracies that appear in this documentation.
Copyright © Actix 2011. All rights reserved. All trademarks are hereby acknowledged.

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 Contents
1 ABOUT MINI ACTIVATION ..............................................................................5
1.1 TECHNICAL OVERVIEW ........................................................................................ 5
1.1.1 Local Activations ................................................................................................. 6
1.2 SECURITY CONSIDERATIONS ................................................................................. 6
1.2.1 Mini Activation server runs within your company‟s network ....................................... 6
1.2.2 Server Dongle ..................................................................................................... 6
1.2.3 Windows Domain Security Group ........................................................................... 6
1.3 MINI ACTIVATION PREREQUISITES .......................................................................... 7

2 SETUP OVERVIEW ........................................................................................8

3 IDENTIFY AND PREPARE A SERVER ....................................................................9

3.1 SERVER REQUIREMENTS ...................................................................................... 9
3.2 HARDWARE REQUIREMENTS .................................................................................. 9
3.3 NETWORK REQUIREMENTS .................................................................................... 9
3.4 VALIDATION OF NETWORK ACCESS........................................................................ 10
3.5 SOFTWARE REQUIREMENTS ................................................................................. 11

4 INSTALLING ON A SERVER ............................................................................ 13

4.1 INSTALLING ON 32BIT OR 64BIT (X64) WINDOWS SERVER 2008 .................................. 13
4.1.1 Installing Internet Information Server .................................................................. 13
4.2 INSTALLING ON 32BIT WINDOWS SERVER 2003 ....................................................... 15
4.2.1 Installing Internet Information Server .................................................................. 15
4.3 INSTALLING ON WINDOWS 7 OR WINDOWS VISTA ..................................................... 18
4.3.1 Installing Internet Information Server .................................................................. 18
4.3.2 Enabling Internet Information Server access ......................................................... 20
4.4 INSTALLING ON 32BIT WINDOWS XP PROFESSIONAL .................................................. 22
4.4.1 Installing Internet Information Server .................................................................. 22
4.5 CONFIGURE MS SQL FOR USAGE LOGGING AND REPORTING .......................................... 24
4.6 INSTALLING THE ACTIX MINI ACTIVATION SERVER SOFTWARE ON THE LOCAL SERVER ............. 25
4.6.1 Verify IIS is running .......................................................................................... 25
4.6.2 Running the Actix Mini Activation Setup ............................................................... 26

5 COMMISSIONING THE MINI ACTIVATION SERVER ................................................ 29

5.1 ACTIVATION OF YOUR MINI ACTIVATION SERVER ....................................................... 29
5.2 VERIFY SERVER STATUS .................................................................................... 31
5.3 CUSTOMISING MINI ACTIVATION SERVER ............................................................... 31
5.3.1 Assign names to Product IDs .............................................................................. 32
5.3.2 User access management for Product IDs ............................................................. 32
5.3.3 Maximum Activation Period ................................................................................. 33
5.4 NEW PRODUCT IDS ......................................................................................... 33

6 INITIAL USER DEPLOYMENT .......................................................................... 34

7 USAGE LOGGING ...................................................................................... 35

7.1 AUTOMATIC CONFIGURATION .............................................................................. 35
7.2 MANUAL CONFIGURATION .................................................................................. 35
7.3 VIEWING ACTIVATION USAGE REPORTS .................................................................. 36

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8 WINDOWS DOMAIN SECURITY GROUP ............................................................. 37
8.1 SELECT THE WINDOWS SECURITY GROUP ............................................................... 37
8.2 IDENTIFYING A USER‟S GROUP MEMBERSHIP ............................................................. 38
8.3 ASSOCIATING A WINDOWS DOMAIN SECURITY GROUP WITH AN ACTIVATION ...................... 38

9 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ................................................................... 39

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 About Mini Activation 5

1 About Mini Activation

Local Concurrent Activation is a method for licensing the Actix Analyzer, Spotlight and
Cellopt software products, for users who normally work with access to their local network
and might not have access to the Internet.
Local Concurrent Activation uses your local network connection to communicate with a
locally hosted “Mini” Activation server to obtain and automatically renew on a regular basis
the product‟s license and activation.
The Mini Activation server can also allow the user to work without being connected to the
local network. Once the Actix software product has been activated, users can work
disconnected from the network, only requiring reconnection to renew their Activation.
The Activation period is the length of time the user‟s PC may be disconnected from the
local network before the Activation license expires. Normally the user would accept the
default activation period configured by Actix, but users can request a non-standard period
– for example, if they were to be working on a laptop away from the network, they might
want to set the activation period to cover this time. Refer to the Concurrent Activation
Licensing Guide for more information.

1.1 Technical overview

Once your Actix Mini Activation server has been setup, your administrator enables your
Actix Mini Activation server software by activating it over the Internet using the Activation
Wizard to obtain the Activation and licensing data associated with your Actix products from
the Actix public Activation Server.
Enabling your Mini Activation Server

Using your Mini Activation Server

Your Mini Activation Server can then respond to Activation requests from your user‟s PCs.

Your user‟s Activation requests remain within your corporate network. These Activation
requests are referred to as Local Activations.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 About Mini Activation 6

1.1.1 Local Activations

The Mini Activation server enables the Actix software product on the user‟s PC to be used
for a short period – typically one hour. At the end of this Activation period, if the Actix
product remains in use and can use your local network to communicate with the local
license server, it automatically renews the Activation period. If the product‟s Activation is
not renewed, the Activation license expires and becomes available for use on a different
machine.
While the Actix software is being used, the product attempts to renew the Activation every
15 minutes. Automatic renewal over the local network is a „silent‟ operation – that is, it
operates without informing the user. If the Activation renewal fails (for example, if the
user is no longer connected to the local network), the renewal is automatically
reattempted multiple times. Once a Local Activation has expired, the Actix software reports
a licensing error and asks the user to perform a reactivation to be able to continue using
the software.
The default activation period is one hour, although users can request a longer period of
Activation (up to 31 days by default).

1.2 Security considerations

A customer will purchase a number of Activations. Using the Standard (non-concurrent)
Activation licensing model, these Activations are consumed by users as they activate their
machines with the associated Product ID. Using Concurrent Activation (the Local Activation
licensing model), the Activations become available again once they have expired.
There is therefore a risk that an unauthorised person could try to use a Product ID to
consume one of the company‟s expired Activations – for example, an ex-employee who
had legitimately been supplied with a Product ID while working for the customer‟s
company.

1.2.1 Mini Activation server runs within your company‟s network

Mini Activation secures against this risk by operating within your company‟s network, and
is protected from unauthorised users by your company‟s network security.

Note It is important to not open up access to the Mini

Activation server from the Internet, as that would allow
anyone to gain access to your company‟s activations.

1.2.2 Server Dongle

The Mini Activation server is secured with a dongle. This dongle contains some but not all
of the activation information – more detailed information is held in particular files on the
server. If these files are corrupted or deleted, all existing Activations are locked into place
and cannot be changed during their existing durations. This will still allow users to continue
using Actix software as normal, but no license reallocations can take place for a particular
licence until the Activation expires.

1.2.3 Windows Domain Security Group

Optionally, a Windows Domain Security Group can be assigned to each Product ID, to
only allow activations of that Product ID by users who validate as members of the
associated Windows Domain security group.
More information on Windows Security Groups can be found here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc246015(PROT.10).aspx
If you choose to use this feature, your administrators should ensure that they are familiar
with configuring Windows Active Directory Security Groups.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 About Mini Activation 7

1.3 Mini Activation Prerequisites

 Actix software
The build of Actix software that supports Mini Activation (check with the Actix
support team for the relevant software releases).

 Local Network
The Mini Activation server and the user PCs running the licensed products must be
connected on your company‟s network.

 Suitable server to host the Mini Activation server.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Setup overview 8

2 Setup overview
Installation of Mini Activation server comprises the following steps:

 Selection of a suitable server machine, onto which the Mini Activation server will be
installed.
 Installation of any required server prerequisite software.
 Installation of Mini Activation Server software.
 Commissioning of the Mini Activation Server.
 User deployment.

Use the following checklist to confirm that you have performed each step in the correct order:

Check Task description See section of guide

 Obtain Actix Mini Activation Server Admin Guide This guide

 Select a suitable server machine… 3.1

 Hardware requirements 3.2

 Network requirements 3.3

 Software requirements 3.5

Install server prerequisite software…

Select one of the following sub-tasks:
 For server running Windows 2008 4.1

 For server running Windows 2003 4.2

 For server running Windows 7 or Vista 4.3

 For server running Windows XP Professional 4.4

 If usage logging is to be used, SQL server is required 4.5

 Install Mini Activation Server software 4.6

 Commission Mini Activation Server 5

 User deployment 6

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Identify and prepare a server 9

3 Identify and prepare a server

3.1 Server requirements
The server needs to be available whenever users make Activation requests to it, which for
many sites means the server needs to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days each week. The
server‟s reliability will be a key factor in ensuring trouble-free access for users.
Actix advises you discuss this section with your IT department, so they can help select a
suitable sever.

3.2 Hardware requirements

The server must have an available USB port for the Actix Mini Activation dongle.

3.3 Network requirements

When selecting your server, the following network configuration needs to be taken into
account:
Network visibility
The Mini Activation server is for use solely within your corporate network, protected from
the Internet. The server needs to be visible to your client machines so they can access it
over your network to obtain activations.

Inbound connections to the Mini Activation Server

Your client machines need access via TCP port 80 to your Mini Activation server over your
corporate network, and must be able to resolve the Mini Activation server‟s name using
DNS.
Outbound connections from the Mini Activation Server
The server needs Internet access to contact the Actix Global Activation server on TCP port
80 at activation.actix.com. This outbound-only connection is used to:

 Activate your Mini Activation server, as part of commissioning the Mini Activation
server for use.

 Obtain any license updates from Actix on a weekly schedule.

Fixed IP address
The server should be assigned a fixed IP address. Although the Mini Activation server will
work successfully with a dynamically assigned IP, a fixed IP is typically more resilient for a
server (a fixed IP avoids issues when a license client PC‟s DNS cache becomes out of
date).
Server is part of your corporate domain network
The server should be a regular member server of your corporate domain (and not a
domain controller). Avoid using a server which is just part of a workgroup (rather than on
your corporate domain).
If you use the optional Windows Domain Security Group feature of Mini Activation (see
section 8), your server is required to be a regular member server of your corporate domain
(and not a domain controller or a server which is just part of a workgroup).

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Identify and prepare a server 10

If you do not use the optional Windows Domain Security Group feature, the server is not
required to be on your domain, although Actix recommends the server is a regular
member server of your corporate domain. If you do install ActMini onto a server which is
part of a workgroup, the optional Windows Domain Security Group feature will not be able.

Server name
Use a simple server name. This will make it easier for your users to enter the server name
into the Activation Wizard. A complex or cryptic name is likely to result in typos when
entering the server name, so users will fail to access the Mini Activation server.

3.4 Validation of Network access

 For the client machines to obtain activations from your Mini Activation server, they
need to be able to access the server successfully over your corporate network.

 To check access to your server from your client machines, open a command
prompt on the client and enter „ping myserver’ (where myserver is the name of
the server hosting your Mini Activation server), as shown below:

The top line of output in the above example shows the IP address being resolved to the
192.168.219.24. Check that the IP number you obtain from your „ping myserver’
matches the IP address of your server.
The subsequent lines in the example above show „Request timed out’, so the client
network pings did not reach the server. In this case there could be a problem with your
network configuration, although it could be that server is configured to ignore ping
requests (due to security considerations). If you see this output, but you are sure that
your selected server is configured correctly, continue with the installation of the Mini
Activation. Once installed, check access from your clients, as detailed in section 5.2 Verify
Server status. If you encounter problems, please contact your IT department for
assistance.
The following example output shows a successful ping of the server from a client:

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Identify and prepare a server 11

3.5 Software requirements

Required Software
Before running the Mini Activation Setup, the following (non-optional) software must be
installed on the server.
Actix recommends the server is running one of these options:

 Windows Server 2008 R2 on 32bit or 64bit (x64) – recommended environment

 Windows Server 2008 on 32bit or 64bit (x64)

 32bit Windows Server 2003 Operating System

If a server version of Windows is not available, the Mini Activation server can be installed
on the following Windows Desktop editions: Windows 7 (Ultimate, Professional or
Enterprise edition), Vista (Business, Enterprise or Ultimate edition) or Windows XP (SP2).

Note Only install on a Windows Desktop operating system

if a suitable Windows server is not available, as desktop
operating systems are not designed to support server
processes. Although the Mini Activation Server will run
successfully in this mode, it will not benefit from the
resilience and capacity provided by a server operating
system.

Internet Information Server (IIS) is also required; it is an optional component of

Windows (see section 4 for configuration details). Actix recommends that the Mini
Activation server is the sole website running on the server (see section 4.6 for more
details).

Optional Software
Mini Activation Server can collect usage data to record the Activations it serves. If usage
logging and reporting is required, the following software is also required:

 Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (recommended) R2 Express Edition (or higher)

OR
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 (minimum) Express Edition (or higher)
The SQL server needs to be accessible from the Mini Activation Server, but it does not
have to be installed on the same server.

Note Administrator access is required at Setup time to MS

SQL server to allow its configuration for use by the Mini
Activation Server.

All usage logging is stored in the database ActixActivation, which can be created and
configured for you as part of the Mini Activation Server setup. Alternatively, the database
can be created and configured manually by your DBA after the Mini Activation Server has
been installed (see section 7).
If you do not have an existing MS SQL Server, Actix recommends MS SQL 2008 R2
Express edition for use with Mini Activation server. Microsoft provides a free download of
MS SQL 2008 R2 Express from http://www.microsoft.com/express/Database. Select to
download and install “Database and Management Tools”. Typically a default install can be
undertaken by someone with basic system administration skills, although if you are unsure
about how to proceed, please request assistance from your IT department.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Identify and prepare a server 12

When installing Microsoft SQL Express, select the option

“Mixed Mode Authentication”.

When installing Microsoft SQL for sole use by Mini Activation server, Actix recommends you
select “Mixed Mode Authentication” rather than just “Windows Integrated Authentication”,
to avoid needing your IT department to create a domain service account. When installing
for mixed mode authentication you will be prompted by the SQL Setup to set a password
for the SQL administrator account (called “sa”). Take note of this password, you will need
to enter the SQL server name, the SQL account name (“sa”), and this password, when
running the Mini Activation setup for it to automatically configure the usage database.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 13

4 Installing on a server
First configure IIS by following the instructions in the following section relating to your
operating system:
 4.1 Installing on 32bit or 64bit (x64) Windows Server 2008
 4.2 Installing on 32bit Windows Server 2003
 4.3 Installing on Windows 7 or Windows Vista
 4.4 Installing on 32bit Windows XP Professional
If you require usage logging also follow section 4.5 “Configure MS SQL for usage logging
and reporting”.
Once these operating system preparation steps are complete, install the Mini Activation
server as detailed in section 4.6.

4.1 Installing on 32bit or 64bit (x64) Windows Server 2008

Windows components: Microsoft Internet Information Server version 7
(IIS7) – see below
Optional 3rd party software: MS SQL Server 2008 Express edition or greater, if usage
logging is required.

4.1.1 Installing Internet Information Server

IIS is included in Windows Server 2008 R2, but is often not installed by default. To install
IIS:
From Server Manager, select Roles to review the current roles installed on the server. If
Web Server (IIS) role is not already enabled, install it as shown in below. If it is
installed, verify the required web services are enabled, as shown below.
The required web services are:

 Static Content

 Default Document

 ASP

 Basic Authentication

 Windows Authentication

 Request Filtering

 IIS6 Metabase Compatibility

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 14

These web services are enabled by selecting the role services for the Web Server:

One IIS has been installed with the required roles; the Actix Mini Activation Server
software can be installed on the server.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 15

4.2 Installing on 32bit Windows Server 2003

Windows components:
Required 3rd party software:
Microsoft Internet Information Server version 6
(IIS6) – see below
MS XML version 6:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?famil
yid=d21c292c-368b-4ce1-9dab-
3e9827b70604&displaylang=en

Optional 3rd party software: MS SQL Server 2005 Express edition or greater, if usage
logging is required.

The Actix Mini Activation server can also be installed on

64bit Windows Server 2003 by following the instructions
below for 32bit install. Setup will configure Microsoft
Internet Information Server (IIS) to support 32bit
applications.

Note: When installing on 64bit Windows Server 2003, it is

important to understand that the World Wide Web
Publishing service does not support running 32-bit and 64-
bit worker processes concurrently on the same server.

4.2.1 Installing Internet Information Server

IIS is included in Windows Server 2003, but is often not installed by default.
To install IIS:
1 Select Start > Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs.
2 Select Add or Remove Windows Components.

3 Select Application Server and click the Details button.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 16

4 Select Enable network COM+ access and Internet Information Services

(IIS) as shown above.
5 Click the Details button.

6 Select the options Common Files and Internet Information Services

Manager.

7 Scroll down to select World Wide Web Service.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 17

8 Click the Details button.

9 Select the options Active Server Pages and World Wide Web Service, and click
OK.
Once IIS has been installed with the required components; the Actix Mini Activation Server
software can be installed on the server.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 18

4.3 Installing on Windows 7 or Windows Vista

This covers Windows 7 Ultimate, Professional and
Enterprise editions, and Windows Vista Ultimate, Business
and Enterprise editions.
For Windows Vista, Service Pack 1 or later is Required.

A Windows Server operating system should be used to host the Actix Activation Server,
rather than a Windows Desktop operating system such as Windows 7 or Windows Vista.
Although the installation can be undertaken on a Windows desktop operating system, it is
important to recognise that a desktop operating system might not give the required
reliability.
Windows components: Microsoft Internet Information Server – see below
Optional 3rd party software: MS SQL Server 2008 Express edition or greater, if usage
logging is required.

There are two steps when installing on Vista:

1 Install IIS
2 Enable access to IIS from the Vista Firewall

If using Windows 7 Ultimate/Professional/Enterprise or

Windows Vista Ultimate/Business/Enterprise as the server
operating system, the server should not support more than
20 users concurrently.

4.3.1 Installing Internet Information Server

IIS is included in Windows Vista and Windows 7, but is often not installed by default. To
install IIS:
From Control Panel, select Programs and Features and the click “Turn Windows
features on or off” to review the currently enabled Windows features. If Internet
Information Services is not already enabled, install it as shown in below. If it is
installed, verify the required web services are enabled, as shown below.
The required web services are:

 Static Content

 Default Document

 ASP

 Basic Authentication

 Windows Authentication

 Request Filtering

 IIS6 Metabase and IIS 6 configuration compatibility

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 19

These web services are enabled by selecting the features for Internet Information
Services:

Click OK to finish. You may now be prompted to install your Windows media.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 20

4.3.2 Enabling Internet Information Server access

Finally, the Windows Firewall needs to be configured to allow access to the Mini Activation
Server.
For Windows Vista, go to Control Panel and select Windows Firewall and enable “World
Wide Web Services (HTTP)” as an exception, as shown below:

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 21

For Windows 7, go to Control Panel and select System and Security and select Allow a
program through Windows Firewall and enable “World Wide Web Services (HTTP)” as
an exception, as shown below:

Once IIS has been installed and the Windows firewall configured, the Actix Mini Activation
Server software can be installed on the server.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 22

4.4 Installing on 32bit Windows XP Professional

A Windows Server operating system should be used to host the Actix Activation Server,
rather than a Windows Desktop operating system such as Windows. Although the
installation can be undertaken on a Windows desktop operating system, it is important to
recognise that a desktop operating system might not give such high reliability.

Windows components: Microsoft Internet Information Server – see below

Optional 3rd party software: MS SQL Server 2008 Express edition or greater, if usage
logging is required.

4.4.1 Installing Internet Information Server

IIS is included in Windows XP, but is often not installed by default. To install IIS:
1 From Control Panel, select Add Remove Programs and then click
Add/Remove Windows Components to review the currently enabled Windows
components. If Internet Information Services (IIS) is not already enabled,
install it as shown in below. If it is installed, verify the required web services are
enabled, as shown below.
2 Select Internet Information Servers (III), and then click Details to review the
subcomponents.

3 Select World Wide Web Service and then click Details.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 23

4 Select World Wide Web Service, and click OK to finish the install. You may be
prompted to install your Windows media by the installation process.

Once IIS setup has completed, the Actix Mini Activation Server software can be installed
on the server.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 24

4.5 Configure MS SQL for usage logging and reporting

Usage logging and report on the activations a Mini Activation server serves is an optional
feature.
An example usage report is shown below:

To enable usage logging and reporting, provide a suitable Microsoft SQL server (see
section 3.5) and then configure the database and Mini Activation server.
If you provide SQL server administrator credentials to the Mini Activation Setup, it can
undertake the configuration for you.
If you do not have SQL server administrator credentials, or if you wish to install Mini
Activation server without usage logging and at a later time enable usage logging, you can
configure the database manually; see section 7 for details.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 25

4.6 Installing the Actix Mini Activation server software on the

local server
The Mini Activation web service is installed as a separate site on port 80 for all IP
addresses, called “Actix Activation Web Site”.

Actix recommends that the Actix Mini Activation server is

the sole website running on the web server.

If other sites are also run on the same server they must be configured to not interfere with
the Actix Mini Activation server. An alternative port is possible although it needs a registry
variable to be configured on each client. The Host Header can be configured, as long as the
local DNS correctly resolves the name in all cases, and users enter the fully qualified name
into their Actix Activation Wizard.
The supplied USB dongle must be accessible whenever the Mini Activation server is
running.

4.6.1 Verify IIS is running

Before installing the Mini Activation server, verify that IIS (Microsoft‟s Internet Information
Server) is installed and enabled.

Note Enter the command exactly as shown below,

including the “/Status” parameter. The same command
with different parameters could reset or stop your IIS
service.

Open a command prompt and enter the following command:

iisreset /Status
The status of IIS will be displayed, and it should report the service as „Running‟, a
successful example status result is shown below:

The status will be shown for all the IIS related services on your server and so might not be
identical to the above example. The item to check is “World Wide Web Publishing ( W3SVC
) : Running”.
If the status is not „Running‟ or if an error is reported, check IIS has been installed as
detailed above, or seek assistance from your IT support. Only proceed on to the next
section once IIS is working successfully.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 26

4.6.2 Running the Actix Mini Activation Setup

To install Actix Mini Activation server:
1 Launch the setup by opening the supplied ActivationServer.msi.
2 The installation wizard will load. Click Next.

3 Review the license terms.

4 You will then have a choice of a full installation, or to install just the Mini Activation
server without usage logging and reporting.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 27

5 If you select Complete, you will be prompted for details of your SQL server to
allow for its configuration by Setup. You will need to provide credentials for an SQL
administrator account (with create database privileges).

When entering the Server Name, you need to enter the full
SQL server instance name in the following format:
<server‟s network name>\<SQL instance name>
By default the instance name for MS SQL Express is
SQLExpress, so for example if your MS SQL Express server
is running on machine SqlServer1, the full name to enter
would be:
SqlServer1\SQLExpress

The account details entered will be used at Setup time to create and configure a
database on the server for usage logging by the Mini Activation server.
6 Click Test to verify access to your SQL server.
If the validation fails, please check the server name and account details and retry.
Once verified, click Next to continue.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Installing on a server 28

If you encounter problems verifying your SQL details, please ask for assistance
from your company‟s database expert. It‟s likely that your SQL server may be
locked down, or that access is being blocked by a firewall, or by SQL configuration.
You can also click Back and then select No Reporting to continue this installation
without usage logging, and at a later time manually enable usage logging (see
section 7).
7 The next screen is for detailing the account to be used to automatically renew the
Mini Activation Server licensing details each week. It ensures that license
updates/renewals are collected from Actix‟ public Activation Server and made
available to your Mini Activation server.
Select a user‟s account that has access to the local system and who has access to
the internet.

8 Click Test to verify the username and password details.

If the validation fails, please check the account details and retry. Once verified,
click Next to continue.
9 The installation wizard now has all the information required to complete the setup.
Click Install to complete the installation process.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Commissioning the Mini Activation Server 29

5 Commissioning the Mini Activation Server

Once the Mini Activation Server has been installed, it needs to be configured with details of
the activations and licenses associated with your Actix products. The Mini Activation Server
obtains these details by itself being activated using the Actix public Activation server.

After the initial Activation of your Mini Activation server it is able to respond to activation
requests from your User‟s PCs. This process of activating your Mini Activation server is also
used later to pick up any licensing updates (see section 5.4 New Product IDs).

5.1 Activation of your Mini Activation server

Run the Activation Wizard on your Mini Activation server to start the configuration of its
activation and license details.

This step must be run on the server hosting your Mini

Activation server.
Do not confuse this with activation of the user‟s PCs.

1 From the Windows Start menu, select

Actix > Activation Server > Activation
Wizard.
The Actix Licensing Wizard opens.

2 Ensure that the I want to activate this

computer option is selected and click
Next.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Commissioning the Mini Activation Server 30

3 Enter the Product ID supplied by Actix.

The Activation Wizard should now look
like this example.

4 Click Next.
5 Click Done to complete the Activation of
your Mini Activation server.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Commissioning the Mini Activation Server 31

5.2 Verify Server status

The server status page can be used to check the Mini Activation server at any time. To
access the server status page open http://servername/act - replace servername with the
network server name for your Mini Activation Server.

This page details the Product ID managed by this Mini Activation Server, with the total
number of activations and the number in use / available. All active activations will be
shown, with details of when they expire and the UserRef provided at Activation time.

5.3 Customising Mini Activation Server

You can optionally assign names to your Product IDs and enhance their protection using
Windows Domain Security Groups.
To access your server‟s administration page, go to the server status page (see 5.2) and
then click Activation Server administration. You will be prompted to enter user
credentials, enter a local administrator account user name and password (by default any
local administrator on the Mini Activation Server can access the administration page).
Click on the Edit button to enter edit mode.

Once you have entered your desired changes click Save and then click Return to Status
Page to exit administration mode.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Commissioning the Mini Activation Server 32

5.3.1 Assign names to Product IDs

You can optionally assign names for the Product IDs serviced by your Mini Activation
Server, to make it easier for your users to select the correct activation. From the
Activation Server administration page (for how to access, see section 5.3) enter names for
your Product IDs, and then click Save.

5.3.2 User access management for Product IDs

To control user access to your Local Activations, you can optionally associate a Windows
Domain Security Group with a Product ID.

Access to the Product ID will be restricted to just those users who have membership of the
specified domain security group. Please see section 8 for more details.

Once a domain group has been set, it cannot be edited. If you decide to
use this security feature, verify that all users who need access to the
Product ID are members of the associated Windows domain group.

From the Activation Server administration page (for how to access, see section 5.3) enter
Domain Security Groups for your Product IDs, and then click Save.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Commissioning the Mini Activation Server 33

5.3.3 Maximum Activation Period

Users who expect to work disconnected from the network (and so cannot access the Mini
Activation Server) may request an extended Activation period by entering their required
number of days into the Advanced screen when running the licensed product‟s Activation
Wizard on their PC.
It is advisable to limit the maximum period a user can obtain, to ensure Activations don‟t
become held by a user rather than being available for users to share as needed.
To set the maximum Activation period, enter the Max Days for your Product IDs, and then
click Save.

Entering a value of 0 will prohibit extended activation periods.

When changing this period consider the balance between how long a user needs to retain
an Activation versus keeping the Max Days short to maximise sharing of the Activation.

5.4 New Product IDs

The local server will automatically check each week to see if any new Product IDs are
available from the Actix public Activation server. If your users need to access the new
Product ID(s) immediately, follow the steps in section 5.1 again.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Initial user deployment 34

6 Initial user deployment

Once the commissioning of your Mini Activation server has been completed, the
deployment of Local Activation is the same as for standard Activation, with the following
additions:

 Individual users will subsequently need to run the Activation Wizard on their PCs,
entering your Mini Activation server‟s name.

 Each user should be provided with the Concurrent Activation Licensing Guide.

 Each user should, if necessary, be informed of the Windows Domain Security

Group their Product ID is associated with – they may need to enter this Security
Group name into the Activation Wizard.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Usage Logging 35

7 Usage Logging
The Mini Activation server can optionally record activation usage in an MS SQL database,
to provide activation usage reports showing who by and when an Activation was obtained.
To enable usage logging and reporting, either your MS SQL database needs to be manually
configured (for example by your company‟s IT department or DBA), or if you can provide
SQL administrator credentials the Mini Activation server Setup can automatically undertake
the required configuration.

7.1 Automatic configuration

When you provide the SQL administrator credentials at Mini Activation server Setup time,
it will undertake the following tasks as part of the installation of Mini Activation server:
1 Creation and configuration of ActixActivation database.
2 Creation and configuration of usage table in the ActixActivation database.
3 Creation of a stored procedure for usage reporting in the ActixActivation database.
4 Creation of a SQL account ActixUsage, and configuration of minimum required
rights (this account is used for all access by the Mini Activation server to the
database).
5 Configuration of Mini Activation server with connection details of the
ActixActivation database using ActixUsage account.
See section 4.5 for details of running Setup for automatic configuration.

7.2 Manual configuration

If you choose to not use automatic configuration of SQL usage database, or if you choose
to configure usage logging and reported after you had installed the Mini Activation Server,
this section details how to undertake configuration manually.
There are 2 main tasks for manual configuration, firstly configuration of your MS SQL
server and secondly configuration of Mini Activation server with the connection details to
the ActixActivation database.
SQL system administration knowledge is required to undertake manual configuration of MS
SQL server. Your company‟s DBA should follow the SQL script provided in the file
“%ProgramFiles%\Actix\Activation Server\usage.sql” (or on 64bit operating
systems “%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Actix\Activation Server\usage.sql”). This script
contains all the steps to create and configure the ActixActivation database. Your DBA may
choose to use different SQL account name for Mini Activation server SQL access; if so
please take note of the SQL account user name and password, as these details are
required by the next stage.
Once the SQL server has been configured, the Mini Activation server configuration file
needs to be edited to enter the SQL connection details. You need the following
information:

 SQL server full name (including both the sever name and SQL instance name).

 SQL server user account name.

 SQL server user account password.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Usage Logging 36

On Windows operating systems with User Account Control (UAC), such

as Vista, Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008, to edit the Activation
Server configuration file remember to load your text editor by right
clicking on the editor and selecting “Run as administrator”, so that you
have the required rights to be able to save the updated file.

Edit the Activation Server configuration file “%ProgramFiles%\Actix\Activation

Server\act\actserver.xml” (or on 64bit operating systems
“%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Actix\Activation Server\act\actserver.xml”) and set the
Connection XML element‟s value to the SQL connection string of your Actix Usage
database. So for example if your DBA used the suggested SQL account name and
password (as provided SQL script file), and your SQL full server name is
SqlServer1\SQLExpress, the actserver.xml would be as shown below:

Finally load the Mini Activation status page (see section 5.2) to cause the changes to be
loaded by the Activation server, and then navigate to the usage reports (see section 7.3)
to verify the usage configuration has been successful.

7.3 Viewing Activation Usage Reports

From the Mini Activation Server administration page (see section 5.3), click the usage link
corresponding to the Product ID of interest. The usage report will be shown.
Each successful Activation will be reported by showing its duration of activation (taking
into account any reactivations while the product was being used). The default activation
duration is 1 hour, although when the product is exited the Activation server is notified
which allows the server to determine the end duration of the Activation, and make the
Activation available again for other users.
From a usage report, you can click the download as xml to save the report data to your
local machine.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Windows Domain Security Group 37

8 Windows Domain Security Group

Association of Windows Domain Security Group is an optional security feature for Mini
Activation Server.

To use the Domain Security Group feature of Mini

Activation Server, your server and your user‟s PCs need to
be part of your corporate domain‟s network.
See section 3.3 for more details about network
requirements of your server.
This feature is not suitable in environments where users
PC‟s are not members of your company‟s domain network,
or users do not log onto the PCs using a user domain
account.

There are two ways in which to use a Windows Domain Security Group to protect your
Product IDs:

 Lock an Activation to provide access to all your users who validate on your
network.
In this case, choose a security group to which all your users belong. Typically each
company‟s Windows domain will have a group called “<mycompany>\Domain
Users” (where <mycompany> is replaced by your company‟s Windows Domain
name), for example: MyTelCo\Domain Users

 To provide fine control over which users can access the Activation.
A Windows Security Group is used that contains only those users who require
access to the Activation; typically a Windows Security Group would be created just
for this purpose. The membership of the chosen Windows Security Group can be
managed using the standard Windows administration tools – your IT department
are likely to be involved in this operation.
By default your Product IDs are not associated with a Windows Domain Security Group. To
enable this security feature just associate Windows Domain Security Group(s) with your
Product ID(s), as detailed below.

8.1 Select the Windows Security Group

To secure an Activation, select a Windows Domain Security Group (this is not the same as
a domain name), and ensure that all users of the Actix software product are members of
this group.

This Security Group must be one that is specific to your

company. It may not be one of the generic Security Groups
provided as standard with Windows (other than for the
“<mycompany>\Domain users” group).

You might not want to create a new Windows Security Group. In this case, Local Activation
will accept the <mycompany>\Domain Users group (eg “MyTelCo\Domain Users”),
which is the group of all users on your domain.
If your Mini Activation Server has multiple Product IDs (for example, if multiple products
have been purchased), you may choose to associate a different Windows Security Group

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Windows Domain Security Group 38

with each Product ID. This would allow control over which group members could activate
which Product IDs.

8.2 Identifying a user‟s group membership

Users can view their own membership of groups by using the Microsoft utility
whoami.exe, available here:
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=3E89879D-6C0B-4F92-96C4-
1016C187D429&displaylang=en
Download and install this tool, then run it from a command prompt, like this:
Whoami /groups
You can ask your users to run this tool to determine which existing groups might be
suitable for use. If there are no existing relevant groups, you could either use the Domain
Users group (which comprises all users on your domain), or ask your IT department to
create a new group specifically for use in managing access to your Local Activation(s).

8.3 Associating a Windows Domain Security Group with an

Activation
Once you have selected the Windows Domain Security Group(s) you wish to use, follow the
steps in section 5.3.2 to associate them with your Product IDs.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Frequently Asked Questions 39

9 Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Local Activation and Standard Activation?

 Standard Activation is enabled per-machine, once activated the machine is

assigned to that Activation from then on.

 Local Activation enables the Actix software product to be used for a short period –
typically one hour. At the end of this Activation period, if the Actix product remains
in use and can use your local network to communicate with the local license
server, it automatically renews the Activation period. If the product‟s Activation is
not renewed, the Activation license expires and becomes available for use on a
different machine.

When a license activation period ends, are users prompted to extend the license
or are they simply disconnected?

 When close to the Mini Activation expiry time, the Activation will automatically
attempt to renew over the local network every 15 minutes without prompting the
user.

What happens when a user closes the Actix application?

 If the last Activation was automatic and the default Activation period of 1 hour is
being used, when the user closes the Actix application then the Activation will
become available for another user.

 If a longer Activation period has been selected and the user closes the Actix
application, their Activation will be retained until its expiry.

When a license is returned to the pool, can it be immediately re-used? If not, how
long until the license becomes active again?

 If a Mini Activation is not automatically renewed (for example, the user is not
connected to a local network), it expires after the default period (typically 1 hour)
or when the user closes the Actix application (see question above).
The Activation is not returned to a pool, but expires at the end of the period, hence
it cannot be „returned to the pool‟ before its expiry point. Once an Activation has
expired, it becomes available again.

Will users lose their licenses if they disconnect from the local network?

 Users can work disconnected from the local network until the Activation expiry
time. If they are connected to the local network, the Activation is renewed
automatically.

Why would users want to request an unusually long Activation period?

 They might want to do this if, for example, users expect to disconnect from the
local network for a long period. By requesting an extended Activation period (for
the duration they expect to work disconnected) they can avoid the Activation
expiring while they are disconnected. If the Activation expires, the user will need
to connect to the local network to request a renewal.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Frequently Asked Questions 40

Why would I not want users to request long Activation periods?

 With the default period of Activation the system automatically frees up Activations
if the Activation is not being used, allowing other users to obtain the Activation.
When a user obtains a long Activation period, they block that Activation from being
re-used by others until it expires at the end of that longer period. So although it is
useful for people who need to work disconnected from the local network, you are
likely to obtain higher license utilisation by users not requesting long Activations.
See section 5.3.3 for details of how to set the maximum Activation period.

Are licenses assigned to users according to user MAC or user-IP, or is it just one
license less out of the pool?

 Mini Activations are assigned per user session for each machine. The user is based
on the user‟s login name, and the machine is based on a machine fingerprint from
the activation technology used by Actix. So if for example, a user obtained a
license on one PC, and before that license expired, the same user obtained a
license on another PC, that user would have two Mini Activations in total.

If I have several licenses, what level of administration and restriction will I

need?

 If, for example, there are 9 Activations, and 9 users are sharing them, then the
users should be able to work without any restrictions. If many more users want to
share them, the number of active users at any one time is limited to 9 Activations.

Can I administrate users when there is a mix of different technology licenses?

 If the customer wants to control access to different technology license

arrangements, and Actix can allocate the licenses to match that, then by
controlling who is supplied with the Product ID for each, administrators can control
user access of the licenses.

What happens if the files on the Mini Activation server containing Activation
information are corrupted or deleted?

 All current Activations will continue until their designated expiry times, at which
point the individual Activation may be renewed or a longer expiry time requested.

What happens if someone removes the dongle on the Mini Activation server?

 The Mini Activation Server will be unable to respond to Activation requests,

although all current Activations will continue until their designated expiry times, at
which point, and if the dongle has been reinserted into the Mini Activation server,
the individual Activation may be renewed or a longer expiry time requested.

How do I give my users immediate access to the latest Product ID?

 Follow the instructions in section 5.3.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Frequently Asked Questions 41

A client machine cannot Activate, the Activation Wizard on the client reports a
Communications Error, what do I do?

 Typically this indicates a network connection issue from the client to the Mini
Activation server. To verify this is the case, check each of the items in the table
below, starting at the top row, and only proceed to the next if the expected
outcome is successful.

Verify Expected result Corrective action

logon to the See expected output If the status page fails to load, it indicates
machine hosting in section 5.2 Verify a possible problem with the Actix Mini
the Mini Activation Server status Activation service, check:
server and open the 1) The IIS configuration (see the section
Mini Activation above for your OS for installation
server page by details of Microsoft‟s Internet
opening the URL Information Server).
http://127.0.0.1/ac
2) Installation of Mini Activation Server.
t in Internet
Explorer
logon to the Check the Mini If the status page fails to load using the
machine hosting Activation server server name, it indicates problems with
the Mini Activation status page loads resolving the DNS name of the server.
server and open the into the browser Check you have entered the server name
Mini Activation correctly. If this does not resolve the
server page by issue, seek assistance from your IT
opening the URL department.
http://myserver /act
in Internet Explorer
Where myserver is
the name of the
server hosting your
Mini Activation
server.
Examine the Mini Status page contains The Mini Activation server has failed to
Activation server “No dongle detected. detect its dongle.
page status (from Please attached the The server‟s dongle must be left attached
the previous step) dongle to the to the server for the Mini Activation server
Activation Server to operate.
and retry”
Reattach the dongle to the server.
<same as above> Status page contains The Mini Activation server has detected its
“No Product IDs dongle successfully.
found, please The Mini Activation server requires
reactivate this activating using the Actix global activation
Activation Server to server.
re-obtain the data
Follow the instructions in section 5.1
from Actix”
Activation of your Mini Activation server
<same as above> Status page contains The Mini Activation server is successfully
“Product IDs served configured to serve the Product IDs listed
by this server” on this status page.
Verify the Product ID being entered on the
client machine. Typically this condition is
due to a typo when entering the Product
ID on the client into the Activation Wizard.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Frequently Asked Questions 42

If an expected Product ID is missing from

this server list, the problem could be out
of date product activation information on
the Mini Activation Server. Follow the
instructions in section 5.3 to obtain the
latest activation server details.

My client machines use a web Proxy, how do I configure access for them to the
Mini Activation server?

 On the client machine, check the proxy configuration by using Internet Explorer to
open the URL http://yourServerName/act, where yourServerName is the name
of the server hosting your Mini Activation server.

If you are prompted to log

into the Proxy server, enter
your Proxy server credentials
and be sure to click
Remember my password,
to cache the proxy details.

I cannot access the Mini Activation Server’s status page

 See the FAQ item “A client machine cannot Activate, the Activation Wizard on the
client reports a Communications Error, what do I do?”

How can I define a group of people to be entitled to use Local Activations?

 Your company‟s Administrators define people to be members of a particular

Windows Domain Security Group, which is used by the Mini Activation server to
restrict access to Product IDs. For more details see section 8.

When entering a Domain Security group, I get the error message “validation
failed, please check the name“

 Check that you have entered the name of the Windows Domain Security group,
and verify with your IT department it is the correct name to use.

 Check that your server is still a valid member of your company‟s domain network
(See section 3.3 for more details).

 Check you have logged onto your machine using your domain account name rather
than a local user account. It‟s likely that any local account is not a member of your
company‟s domain network.

 If you are working remotely from your company‟s office, check that your machine
can access your company‟s network.

 Use the „whoami.exe‟ tool (see section 0) to verify you are a member of the
required windows domain security group.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Frequently Asked Questions 43

Only users who are local Administrators on the Activation Server machine can
access the Mini Activation Server administration pages. How can I allow others
access to these pages?

 An administrator familiar with XML can edit the actserver.xml configuration file
(“%ProgramFiles%\Actix\Activation Server\act\actserver.xml” (or on
64bit operating systems “%ProgramFiles(x86)%\Actix\Activation
Server\act\actserver.xml”), to change the protection to the Activation Server
admin pages. Editing this settings file should only be undertaken by a skilled
administrator; invalid changes could stop your activation server. Once edited,
reload your Activation Server status page to pick up changes to this file.

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Actix Mini Activation Server Administration Guide July 2011 Frequently Asked Questions 44

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