Additional setup is required when setting up a web server to run the Grooper web client. This is covered in the Installing and Configuring the Web Client sub-section.
Thank you for purchasing/upgrading to Grooper 2023!
NEW! Expanded Web Client!
In previous versions of Grooper, it was necessary to fully install the software on each server and client workstation you wanted to have access to Grooper. No matter if they were designing your Grooper environment or reviewing documents, Grooper had to be installed on each machine. This could cause difficulties in managing the software on multiple workstations. Furthermore, each user would need read and write access to the Grooper Repository's database and file store location. This could present a security risk to your SQL and file store environments, as the more users have access, the more risk there is of untoward intrusion.
With Grooper 2023, Grooper can be fully hosted on a web server. Users can then connect to the Grooper web application via web browser. This means the software only has to be fully installed on one server! This makes everything a lot easier to manage, as there's no more need to install Grooper on each user's workstation. Furthermore, web deployment is more secure. The only user who needs access to the Grooper database and file store is the web server's IIS account.
Web deployments require additional setup to get Grooper up and running over the web. For information on how to install the web client, please be sure to check out the Installing and Configuring the Web Client section of this article.
For more information on other new features in Grooper 2023, check out the What's New In Grooper 2023 article.
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 is web server developed by Microsoft for Windows. It is necessary to host the Grooper web client.
Grooper Web Server: With this application properly installed and configured, multiple users can access Grooper remotely via web browser.
Grooper Desktop: This application is only necessary for remote scanning when using the Grooper web client.
Download the Installer
If you have not registered at Grooper xChange, do so by clicking the link below.
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.
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.
The 64-bit installer is appropriate for most environments.
If you are setting up a web server to host the Grooper web client, you must use the 64-bit installer.
You will also need to download the Grooper Web Server installer.
If you are using ISIS or TWAIN drivers to operate a scanner:
For thick client installations, you will need to install the 32-bit version on scanning workstations.
For web client installations, you will need to install the Grooper Desktop application on scanning workstations.
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.
Click 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.
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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.
To stand up a Grooper 2023 web server, there are three things that need to be installed first:
The Grooper product suite
⚠ It is best practice to install the Grooper product suite first, before installing the Grooper Web Client application.
Internet Information Services (IIS)
The Grooper Web Client application
FYI
Desktop Scanning Advice
Once your Grooper web server is stood up, you can scan remotely from any computer able to connect to the web server via an internet browser. However, each scan operator will need to have an additional application, Grooper Desktop, installed on there computer to operate the scanner.
For information on how to install Grooper Desktop please refer to the "Installing Grooper Desktop" and "Reserve URL for Grooper Desktop" tabs below.
Installing IIS
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
⚠
If you wish to perform ad hoc processing or multi-threaded process step testing via web client, you will need to install two services in Grooper Config: an Import Watcher and an Activity Processor. Please see installation instructions in the next tab.
Open up File Explorer and navigate to your extracted folders.
Open the extracted folder "GrooperWebClient_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 Services
When using the Grooper web client, two Grooper services must be installed and running for certain ad-hoc operations.
The Import Watcher service must be installed to perform ad-hoc document imports from the Imports page.
The Activity Processing service must be installed to submit multithreaded jobs when using the Unattended Activity tester on a step in a Batch Process.
Here we will show you how to install and start the services needed.
Open Grooper Config and click on "Edit Services".
Once the "Service Manager" window pops up, click "Install..." in the top left corner.
In the "Install New Service" window, select "Import Watcher".
In the top right corner, select the repository needing the service from the drop down list.
Click "OK".
When the "Import Watcher" window pops up, enter the user name and password associated with the server Grooper is installed on.
Make sure to include the domain name in your user name following the convention DOMAIN\username.
Click "Execute".
FYI
While setting up the Import Watcher, you can configure the Scheduled Imports, but this is optional. The Import Watcher must be running to perform ad-hoc imports in the web client, with or without Scheduled Imports.
Once back in the "Service Manager" window, click "Install..." in the top left corner again.
In the "Install New Service" window, select "Activity Processing".
In the top right corner, select the repository needing the service from the drop down list.
Click "OK".
When the "Activity Processing" window pops up, enter the user name and password associated with the server Grooper is installed on.
Make sure to include the domain name in your user name following the convention DOMAIN\username.
If desired, change the Number of Threads property to reflect the thread count you wish to use for processing.
The maximum number of threads should not exceed the total number of processor threads available minus one. One thread must be reserved to run the operating system. e.g. If the machine has 20 total threads, the highest value you should enter for Number of Threads should be 19.
If the service is running on the same server where IIS is installed, an additional thread should be reserved for IIS.
If the service is running on the same server where SQL is installed, an additional thread should be reserved for SQL.
Click "Execute".
When back at the "Service Manager" window, click "Start All" if you wish to start all of your services. You can also choose specifically which services to start by selecting each one individually and clicking "Start".
When activated, the dot to the left of the service will turn from red to green.
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.
Click "Server Certificates".
In the right-hand Actions panel, click "Create Self-Signed Certificate..."
Enter a name for the certificate.
Click "OK".
Expand the server connection and select the "Grooper" site.
Click "Bindings..."
Click "Add..."
Under "Type" select "https" from the drop down list.
Under "Host name" enter the host address (if applicable).
Under "SSL certificate", select the self signed certificate you created earlier.
Click "OK" when finished.
You should now see the binding for port 443.
Click "Close".
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.
There is one more thing we need to do to finish the installation of Grooper Desktop. We need to reserve a URL for Grooper Desktop to use. See the next tab for instructions on how to do this.
Reserve URL for Grooper Desktop
The first time you run Grooper Desktop, you might notice a notification pop up above your system tray that says Grooper Desktop is "Not Configured".
This is because you need to reserve the URL as the listening location that the service will use to pull from the scanner. We will run a short command line code to reserve this URL.
right click on the Grooper "G" logo in your system tray and click on "Configure..."
When the window pops up, Web Scanning is set to "Disabled".
Click the drop-down arrow and select "Enabled".
Click the down arrow to the left of "Web Scanning" to expand properties.
Down at the bottom, you will see a property called "URL Reservation". It is populated with a netsh command. Select the contents of this property and copy it to your clipboard.
Open a Command Prompt (as an administrator) in Windows and paste the previously copied netsh command. Hit Enter.
The command prompt should return with "URL reservation successfully added".
Now you should be finished with the installation of Grooper Desktop!
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:
A database connection
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
⚠
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:
A database connection
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.
Click the "Download SQL Express..." button.
The installer files will download automatically. You will see this dialog box appear upon successful download.
Click "Ok" to continue.
Next, you can install SQL Express directly from Grooper Config.
Click the "Install SQL Express..." button.
The following confirmation box will appear.
Click "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.
Click "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. Click "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, click 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 clicking 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.
⚠
If you are using the Web Client, you will need to recycle the Grooper app pool in IIS to access any new repository you create or when connecting to a previously configured repository.
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.
Click "Ok" to continue.
Click 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.
Click 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 click 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.
Click the "Save" button to finalize your Grooper 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.
⚠
If you are using the Web Client, you will need to recycle the Grooper app pool in IIS to access any new repository you create or when connecting to a previously configured 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.
Now that you have your repositories initialized and connected, you need to activate your Grooper license. When you purchased Grooper, you should have received a license key GUID, something like "1a2b3c4d-5e6f-7g8h-9i10-j11k12l13m14". You will need this GUID to license your Grooper installation.
There are three ways to license Grooper:
shared-online
stand-alone
hosted
In this article, we will show you how to perform "shared-online" licensing. Shared-online licensing is the easiest but least secure method of licensing.
It is easiest because a Grooper Repository is licensed simply by entering the license GUID into a property at the root node in Grooper Design. Licensing is decremented over the internet.
However, all that's required to license the repository is the GUID. It is not locked to any individual server or machine on use.
This means any user with the license GUID and an internet connection can use the license. Make sure to keep your GUID secure and do not share with anyone that you do not wish to have access.
The "stand-alone" and "hosted" methods require additional setup using Grooper Config but are more secure.
These installations are more secure because the license is locked to an individual machine when the license key is activated.
If a user attempts to use the license GUID to license a Grooper Repository, licensing will fail.
For "hosted" installations, licensing is distributed to client workstations via a URL provided by the Grooper Licensing service not the license GUID.
For information on the stand-alone and hosted licensing methods, visit the Grooper Licensing article.
How to Activate Your License Using the "Shared-Online" Method
To license your Grooper repository using "shared-online" licensing, perform the following steps:
Open the Grooper Web Client in a web browser. At the top you will see that the software is currently "UNLICENSED".
Click the "Design" icon.
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.
‼
IMPORTANT: Again, when licensing Grooper this way, the GUID is not connected to any one machine. Your GUID can be used by any user with access to a web browser. Make sure to keep your GUID secure and do not share with anyone that you do not wish to have access.
Close and re-open Grooper Design Studio. At the top the "LICENSEE" should now reflect your current liscence. You may begin using Grooper!
