2023:Install and Setup

WIP	This article is a work-in-progress or created as a placeholder for testing purposes. This article is subject to change and/or expansion. It may be incomplete, inaccurate, or stop abruptly. This tag will be removed upon draft completion.

Welcome to Grooper 2023!

This guide will instruct you how to get up and running in Grooper. 

This article also provides guidance for Upgrading an Older Version of Grooper.

About

Thank you for purchasing/upgrading to Grooper 2023!

Before we go over the installation and setup of Grooper 2023, let us explain some of the new features 2023 has to offer.

In previous versions of Grooper, you had to install the software on each computer you wanted to have access to any part of Grooper. So, no matter if they were designing your Grooper environment or reviewing documents, Grooper had to be fully installed on their computers. Everyone would then have to access a server where the Grooper repositories are stored or create a local repository on their machine. This could cause some difficulties in customizing permissions and managing the software on multiple computers.

With Grooper 2023, the software only has to be fully installed on one computer! Instead, everyone else can access the Grooper environment and repositories via web browser. This makes everything a lot easier to manage.

Installing the Grooper Product Suite

To get up and running with Grooper 2023, there are several applications that need to be installed and configured.

• Grooper: This primary application installs the Grooper thick client and Grooper Config.
• Internet Information Services (IIS): This program is necessary to use the Grooper Web Client.
• Web Client: With this application properly installed and configured, multiple users can access Grooper remotely via web browser.
• Grooper Desktop: This application can be installed on any computer. Grooper Desktop integrates with scanners

Download the InstallerInstalling Grooper

Download the Installer

If you have not registered at Grooper xChange, do so by clicking the link below. https://xchange.grooper.com/entry/register Once you've registered, you will have access to the user forum, including the "Downloads and Resources" section. Follow the link below to the "Download and Resources" section. The top level topic will have download links to the most recent version of Grooper. Links to older versions are available lower in the list of topics. https://xchange.grooper.com/categories/downloads-and-resources
Click on the link for Grooper 2023. Here you will see four links to downloads: The 64-bit installer, the 32-bit installer, Grooper Desktop Installer, and Grooper Web Server Installer. You will need to choose between the 64-bit installer and the 32-bit installer. The 64-bit installer is appropriate for most environments. However, if you are using ISIS or TWAIN drivers to operate a scanner, you will need to install the 32-bit version. Download the version appropriate to your needs, then also download both the Grooper Desktop and Grooper Web Server installers.
The installer files will download as zipped folders. You will need to extract each zipped folder. Right-click a folder and select "Extract All..."
Choose the folder location you wish to extract the files to. Press the "Extract" button.
Now you should have all your files extracted and are ready to install the software. Click on the next tab for installation instructions.

Installing Grooper

Open up File Explorer and navigate to your extracted folders. Open the extracted folder "GrooperInstall_23.00.xxxx" to reveal the installation files.
Double-click "setup.exe" to start the Grooper Installer. ⚠ If this is your first time installing Grooper, you may have some prerequisites to install (Microsoft Visual C++, Access Database Engine, and the Microsoft .NET Framework). If you already have these installed from a previous Grooper installation, please skip to step #8.
When the InstallShield Wizard for Grooper pops up, click "Install" to start installing the prerequisite applications. FYI You may already have the Microsoft .NET Framework installed, but this prerequisite installation will check to make sure that all components necessary for Grooper to run are present.
Once Microsoft Visual C++ is installed, your server may require a restart. When prompted, please restart.
After restarting, open File Explorer and navigate back to the setup.exe file and double-click again to restart the InstallShield Wizard. Click "Install" to continue installing the prerequisite applications.
Once complete, the Grooper installer will pop up. Click "Next" to move to the next screen.
After reviewing the Welcome page to the InstallShield Wizard, click "Next" to continue.
Read through the End User License Agreement and click the radial button next to "I accept the terms in the license agreement". Click "Next" to continue.
Now you can choose the location where you want the Grooper Application to be installed. It is recommended to use the default file path, but based on your business needs, you may choose a different area for the installation on your server. Once you are satisfied with the installation location, click "Next".
Select the radial button next to your preferred setup type. Generally we recommend performing a Complete setup of Grooper onto your server, but there are some cases where you might want to customize your installation depending on your business needs. Click "Next".
You are now ready to install the program. Click "Install" to begin installation.
Installation should only take a few minutes. When complete a window should pop up saying that the installation is complete. Click "Finish" to finalize your installation.

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Installing and Configuring the Web Client

Installing IISInstalling the Web ClientInstalling Grooper DesktopFYI: How to Create and Bind a Self-Signed Certificate

Installing IIS

For the Grooper 2023 web server to operate properly, there are extra components that need to be installed first. Here we will go through the required Internet Information Services (IIS) installation for your host server.

Open Server Manager.
In the top right corner, click on "Manage" to bring up the drop down menu. Click "Add Roles and Features".
In the window that pops up, feel free to read through the information associated with the installation wizard and then click "Next".
Make sure "Role-based or feature-based installation" is selected. Click "Next".
Select the desired server from the server pool list. Click "Next".
Click the check box next to Web Server (IIS) under "Roles" to add the option (When the dialogue box pops up, click the "Add Features" button at the bottom). Click "Next".
On this screen you don't need any additional features, so just click "Next".
Feel free to read through the description of what a web server is, and click "Next".
We need to make sure that the appropriate role services are installed for Grooper to function. Scroll through the list and select the following components (If a window appears asking you to add features, click the "Add Features" button): Web Server Common HTTP Features Default Document Static Content Security Request Filtering Basic Authentication Windows Authentication Application Development .NET Extensibility 4.5 (or above) ASP.NET 4.5 (or above) ISAPI Extensions ISAPI Filters WebSocket Protocol Management Tools IIS Management Console IIS 6 Management Compatibility IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility IIS Management Scripts and Tools Management Service Click "Next" after all components are selected.
If desired, click the checkbox next to "Restart the destination server automatically if required". Click the "Install" button and allow the installation to run.
Once installation is complete, click "Close" to close the wizard.

Installing the Web Client

Open up File Explorer and navigate to your extracted folders. Open the extracted folder "GrooperWebServer_23.00.xxxx" to reveal the installation files.
Double-click "setup.exe" to start the Grooper Installer.
After reviewing the Welcome page to the InstallShield Wizard, click "Next" to continue.
Read through the End User License Agreement and click the radial button next to "I accept the terms in the license agreement". Click "Next" to continue.
Enter in the user name and password to be associated with this installation of Grooper. This needs to be the user name and password associated with the server Grooper is being installed on. This will allow you to configure permissions for other users later on. ⚠ Make sure your user name starts with the domain name using the format: "DOMAIN\username". Click "Next".
Click the "Install" button to begin installation.
Installation should only take a few minutes. When complete a window should pop up saying that the installation is complete. Click "Finish" to finalize your installation.

Installing Grooper Desktop

Grooper Desktop can be installed on any desktop computer used to scan documentation. The Grooper thick client does not have to be installed on the computer for Grooper Desktop to operate.

Open up File Explorer and navigate to your extracted folders. Open the extracted folder "GrooperDesktop_23.00.xxxx" to reveal the installation files.
Double-click "setup.exe" to start the Grooper Installer.
After reviewing the Welcome page to the InstallShield Wizard, click "Next" to continue.
Read through the End User License Agreement and click the radial button next to "I accept the terms in the license agreement". Click "Next" to continue.
Now you can choose the location where you want the Grooper Application to be installed. It is recommended to use the default file path. FYI Notice that this application is being installed in Program Files (x86). We are installing a 32-bit application because it interfaces with scanners. Click "Next".
Click the "Install" button to begin installation.
Installation should only take a few minutes. When finished, a window should pop up saying that the installation is complete. Click "Finish" to finalize your installation.

FYI: How to Create and Bind a Self-Signed Certificate

Generally speaking, you should always connect to a website using the more secure HTTPS protocol and not the unsecure HTTP. Enabling SSL on your web server will allow you to do so. For the purposes of this tutorial, we will not enable SSL. However, this is not best practice in the wide world of world wide web traffic. Even for internal use, you should at least use a self-signed SSL certificate.

Here, we will cover the most basic steps to create a self-signed SSL certificate and bind it to the Grooper Web Client's website.

First, open the Information Internet Services (IIS) Manager application on your web server. Select your server in the left-hand Connections panel. Select Server Certificates.
In the right-hand Actions panel, select Create Self-Signed Certificate...
Enter a name for the certificate. Press OK.
Expand the server connection and select the "Grooper" site. Select Bindings...
Select Add...
Under Type select https. Under Host name enter the host address (if applicable). Under SSL certificate, select the self signed certificate you created earlier. Select OK when finished.
You should now see the binding for port 443. Select Close.

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Connecting to a Grooper Repository

A Grooper Repository is the environment used to create, configure and execute objects in Grooper. It provides the framework to "do work" in Grooper.

This environment consists of two things:

1. A database connection
2. A file store connection

The database stores Grooper nodes and their property settings (such as a Content Model or a Data Type or any other Grooper object). The file store location houses content associated with these nodes (such as the image file for a Batch Page object). Grooper is the application layer that sits on top of this two parts of the environment. It allows readable and writable access and the UI to create, configure, test, and process the information stored there.

Connecting to a Grooper Repository is one of the first things you will do after installing Grooper to start designing (or implementing already architected) document processing solutions. This is done with the Grooper Config application.

⚠	Grooper Config must be run as an administrator. It performs functions that require elevated access in Windows.

Creating a New Grooper Repository

Install SQL Express (Optional)Initialize Grooper ConfigEstablish the File Store LocationCreate a New Grooper Repository

Install SQL Express

⚠

This step is only applicable to stand-alone Grooper installations on a local machine. If you are using the full version of Microsoft SQL Server and it is already installed and running, you can skip this step and continue to the next tab. Grooper is not designed to run at an enterprise level for your business on SQL Express, but it can be useful for testing/experimentation purposes.

Remember, a Grooper Repository is two things:

1. A database connection
2. A file store connection

For Grooper Repositories, nodes and their property values are stored in tables in a SQL database. Node objects created in Grooper Design Studio are stored as rows in a table, with their property values in the row's columns. This can be anything from a Batch of documents, to a Batch Process used to process that Batch, to a Content Model referenced by the Batch Process to classify the documents in the Batch or any object used to execute document processing in Grooper.

If you do not have a SQL environment already available, you can download and install Microsoft SQL Express directly from Grooper Config. Press the "Download SQL Express..." button.
The installer files will download automatically. You will see this dialog box appear upon successful download. Press "Ok" to continue.
Next, you can install SQL Express directly from Grooper Config. Press the "Install SQL Express..." button. The following confirmation box will appear. Press "Yes" to continue installing SQL Express.
Grooper will then prompt you for a folder location to save the installed files. This defaults to a folder in the "Grooper" folder of the "BIS" folder created during installation. Press "Ok" to continue.
You will then be prompted through the SQL Express installation process.
Upon successful installation, the following dialog box will appear. You can elect to either keep the installer executable file or delete it. You don't need it anymore. You may as well delete it. Press "Yes" to delete the file.

Initialize Grooper Config

If this is your first time opening Grooper Config after installation, you will need to initialize the System Configuration. You will see the following dialog box appear. Click "Yes" to initialize.
Upon initializing the system for the first time, you will see this screen. This is a totally unconfigured Grooper Config! From here, we can create new Grooper Repositories and connect to existing Grooper Repositories accessible on your network. If starting totally from scratch, you will need to create at least one Grooper Repository.

Establish the File Store Location

Remember, a Grooper Repository is two things: A database connection A file store connection The file store simply needs to be a Windows folder you have readable and writable access to. In this case, it is a folder named "okcstrpa01" in a parent folder named "BIS" on the "C: drive" folder of this server. What you name your file store and where you put it is totally up to you.
⚠ Grooper strongly recommends always using a UNC path to avoid access problems when networking your Grooper Repositories. Mapped and local drive references may not be accessible to other users or machines. The file store can be any folder you have writeable access to. However, using a fully qualified UNC path is always regarded as best practice. UNC paths can be established using the "Sharing" properties of a folder. Right-click the folder Select the "Properties" option.
In the following window, press the "Sharing" tab. If the folder is already shared, you will see the UNC path under "Network Path" The UNC naming convention for Windows paths is as follows: \\host-name\file_path If you have not shared the folder, you can do so by pressing the "Share..." button. From there you can list users or user groups who should have networked access to the folder.

Create a New Grooper Repository

Now that Grooper is initialized, we have a file store location, and we have an available SQL environment (either a full install of SQL Server or SQL Express) we can create a new Grooper Repository. Connecting to a Grooper Repository is the first thing you will do in Grooper Config. If you're not connecting to an existing Grooper Repository set up on someone else's Grooper installation, you'll need to create one. Select the Repositories property in Grooper Config. Click the ellipsis button at the end. This will open up a new window to add Grooper Repository connections.
Click the "Add" button to add a new connection.
The first part of creating a new Grooper Repository is establishing the database connection. Select the Server Name property and enter the server's name running the SQL environment. FYI: For SQL Express installs, the server instance will be the machine's name followed by \GROOPER as seen here. For standard SQL Server installs, simply enter the server machine's name. Select the Database Name property and enter a name for the database. Here, we chose to name it okcstrpa01_001 after the server name. Name the database whatever you would like. Click the "Test Connection" button.
Since we are creating a new Grooper Repository, the database has not been created yet. A dialog box will appear informing you the database does not exist and asking you if you want to create it. Click "Yes" to create the database.
FYI By default, Grooper will use your Windows login authentication to access the SQL environment. However, if you need to access the SQL environment with different rights (for example a SQL admin login), you can do so using the Authentication properties.
Upon creating the database, you will get a message letting you know the database has not been initialized. Press "Ok" to continue.
Press the "Initialize" button.
Remember, a Grooper Repository is two things: A database connection A file store connection Initializing the Grooper Repository connects the repository to the file store location and establishes the folder structure Grooper uses to store files. Select the Storage Path property and enter the file path for the file store's folder. Press the "Execute" button to initialize the Grooper Repository. ⚠ While you can use the ellipsis button to navigate to a local file store location, it is ill-advised. Please use a fully qualified UNC path for your Grooper files store location. FYI You may also name the Grooper Repository using the Repository Name property. We named ours okcstrpa01_001. But don't worry if you don't name it at this time. You may rename your Grooper Repository at any time after it is initialized. Once initialized, you can select the Grooper Repository from the Repositories list and press the "Rename" button to rename it.
Upon successful initialization, you will receive this confirmation window. Click the "Ok" button to continue. Click the "Ok" button to finish.
This will return you to the main Grooper Config window. Press the "Save" button to finalize your Grooper Repository connection.

Click here to return to the top of the section

Connecting to an Existing Grooper Repository

Add a Repository ConnectionConfigure the Connection

Add the Repository Connection

Connecting to an existing Grooper Repository is similar to creating a new one. It is essentially the same process with fewer steps. For this tutorial, we will connect to a repository that is hosted on another machine.

FYI

When connecting to a networked repository, you do not need to have a SQL environment on the machine accessing the repository. As long as the machine has networked access to the SQL server where the Grooper repository's database is created and networked access to the repository's file store location, it can connect to the repository.

The first steps of connecting to an existing Grooper Repository are the same as creating a new one. Select the Repositories property. Click the ellipsis button at the end of the property to bring up the Grooper Repositories connection editor.
In the new window that pops up, click the "Add" button to add a new connection.

Configure the Connection

Select the Server Name property and enter the server's name running the SQL environment. Select the Database Name property and enter the Grooper Repository's database name. Click the "Test Connection" button.
FYI The repository we are connecting to has already been created and initialized on another machine. As long as we have networked access to the SQL environment and file store, we should be able to just connect to it. A dialog box appears letting you know the connection is successful. Click "Ok" to continue.
FYI By default, Grooper will use your Windows login authentication to access the SQL server and database. However, if you need to access the SQL environment with different rights (for example a SQL admin login), you can do so using the Authentication properties.
You will see the "Status" listed as Ok indicating you have successfully connected to the Grooper Repository. Click the "OK" button to continue.
This will return you to the main Grooper Config window. Click the "Save" button to finalize your Grooper Repository connection.

Click here to return to the top of the section

License Activation

Now that you have your repositories initialized and connected, you need to activate your Grooper license. There are several ways to activate your license. In this article we are going to cover the easiest and quickest way to get you up and running. For more information on other methods of licensing see Grooper Licensing - 2021.

Obtain a Grooper License

Licensing Grooper

When you purchased Grooper, you should have received an activation key GUID, something like "1a2b3c4d-5e6f-7g8h-9i10-j11k12l13m14". You will need to put a copy of this GUID into Grooper Design Studio to begin using Grooper.

When you first open Grooper Design Studio, a Licensing Error dialogue box will most likely pop up. Click "OK" to close the dialogue box.
With the repository selected in the root node, make sure the "Root" tab is selected. Click to the right of the License Serial# or URL property and paste your activation key.
Click the "Save" button.
Close and re-open Grooper Design Studio. You should no longer receive a Licensing Error and can now begin using Grooper. At the bottom of the window you should be able to see the status has changed from "Unlicensed" to "Licensed".