2.90:Install and Setup
Welcome to Grooper!
This guide will instruct you how to get up and running in Grooper. There are three parts of installing and setting up Grooper:
1. Installing the Grooper Product Suite
About
The Grooper install is very straightforward. Grooper installers are found on the user forum website Grooper xChange at xchange.grooper.com. All prerequisite components, including the requisite .NET framework, come prepackaged in the Grooper installer folder and will install as part of the setup, if not already installed. Once you’ve finished installing, you will need to create a Grooper Repository and activate your license in order to start Groopering.
Install Steps
Before you begin
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.
You will also 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.
Unzip the installer
- 1. Right click the downloaded zip file and select "Extract All...
- 2. On the following screen, set the destination folder for the extracted files and press the "Extract" button.
Open the setup application
Open the installer folder from the extracted location and open the "setup" application.
Windows Defender may prompt you to run the program. If so, press "More Info" then "Run Anyway"
Install any required components
- 1. A list of required components will appear. Click the "Install" button to install them.
If you have already installed all the required components, the installer will skip this step entirely. The Grooper Installer program will pop up instead.
- 2. If a dialogue box appears asking if you want the app to make changes to your device, click "Yes"
- 3. Some components may prompt you to begin or finish their installations.
- 4. The installer may ask you to restart your computer. If so, click "Yes" to reboot. After rebooting, navigate to the installer folder and open the "setup" application again to finish installing Grooper.
Run the Grooper Installer
When finished installing prerequisites, the Grooper installer program will run automatically. Click "Next" to begin.
Finish the installation
- 1. Continue through the installer's prompts. For standard installations, you simply need to press the "Next" button until the end. Once you reach the screen below, press the Install button. The InstallShield Wizard will install Grooper, which could take a few minutes.
- 2. Upon completion, click the "Finish" button to exit the installer.
Verify the installation
After the install is finished, you can find all installed Grooper applications in the Start Menu in a folder named "Grooper"
2. Creating a Grooper Repository
About
In order to start processing documents, you must first set up a Grooper Repository. This is the environment where your documents and data are stored and managed. Grooper Repositories consist of a database connection and a file store location. The database contains nodes and their properties, and the file store contains images, text and other data. Imagine a page in a batch in Grooper. The page exists as a node in the Node Tree. It's node information, location in the batch for example, is saved in the database. However, the actual image file is saved in the file store. Setting up the environment will be performed using the Grooper Config program.
Repository Creation Steps
Before you begin
You will need to create a file store location first. This is a folder Grooper will use to store files, such as document images and OCR text data.
| ! | The file store can be any folder you have writeable access to, such as a folder in your home directory. However, using a fully qualified UNC path is generally regarded as best practice. |
Open Grooper Config
- 1. Open the Grooper Config application. You will need to run the program as an administrator by right-clicking the icon and selecting "Run as Administrator"
- 2. If a dialogue box appears asking if you want the app to make changes to your device, click "Yes"
- 3. If this is your first time running Grooper, Grooper Config will prompt you to initialize the System Configuration. Select "Yes" to do so.
The next steps will use Grooper’s built-in tools to install a local SQL Express database. If you are in an environment with an existing database infrastructure skip to Step 3.
Download and 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. |
- 1. Select the "Tools" button from the toolbar and "Download SQL Express" from the menu bar.
- 2. Press “OK” when the download finishes.
- 3. Go back to the Tools menu and select Install SQL Express.
- 4. Press "Yes" to verify you wish to install SQL Express.
- 5. Press the “OK” button to install using the default directory (or select one of your own). The SQL Express installer will run at this point. The installation could take a few minutes.
- 6. Upon completion, you will see this confirmation screen asking if you want to delete the installer file. You may do so by pressing "Yes".
Add a new Grooper Repository
Select the "Add" button from the toolbar.
Set up a database connection
- 1. If you installed SQL Express from Grooper Config, this should be pre-populated with the correct settings. As seen below, the server name will be your machine's name, followed by a backslash and "Grooper".
However, if you are using the full version of Microsoft SQL Server, simply enter the database server's name running Microsoft SQL Server.
The database name defaults to "Grooper" (However, you can change this name if you choose). Click "Execute" to establish connection to the database.
Note: You will also need the User Name and Password credentials used to access the SQL Server. If left blank, Grooper will use your Windows login authentication.
- 2. If the database has not been created, Grooper will tell you it "does not exist" as seen in the message box below. Click "Yes" to create it.
Note: You can also use Grooper Config to connect a workstation to an existing Grooper Repository on another machine. The process is much the same. Enter the name of the database server, enter of the database, and if necessary enter the user name and password credentials used to access the database.
Initialize the Grooper Repository
- 1. The database connection will now show up in the list of Repository Connections with a status of “Not Initialized.” This means the database exists but is empty and does not know where the file store location is. Press the Initialize… button in the toolbar to finish configuring the repository.
- 2. This window will appear prompting you for a "Repository Name" and "Storage Path".
Since you can have multiple repositories on the same database server, be sure your repositories have distinctive names.
- 3. On the "Storage Path" property, you will set the file store's location. Enter a UNC path pointing to a shared folder on your network (This is the folder from the "Before You Begin" step of these instructions).
| ! | 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. |
- 4. After you have set the "Repository Name" and "Storage Path" properties, press "Execute" to finish initializing the Grooper Repository.
Save your work
- 1. Upon successful initialization, you will receive the message below. Press "OK" to continue.
- 2. You will see the repository's status change from "Not Initialized" to "OK" and the name change to what you entered as the "Repository Name". Press the "Save" button to save the Grooper Repository.
3. License Activation
About
The last step in the setup process is licensing the product. Depending on your install, you may do this by activating a license on your local machine or pointing to a license server running a Grooper Licensing activity service.
Registering a license to an individual machine
Before you begin
You will need to obtain a Grooper license key or license package.
| ! | If you are planning on installing a Grooper Licensing service to hand out licenses to other workstations, the machine activating the license must be the one to install the service. |
Open Grooper Design Studio
- 1. Open the Grooper Design Studio application.
- 2. Select the Grooper Root at the top of the Node Tree in the left hand panel. You will see the a property panel in the panel to the right.
Enter your licensing information
- 1. Navigate from the "Grooper Root" tab to the "Licensing" tab in the right hand panel.
- 2. Press the "Activate Online..." button to enter in a license key.
- 3. Enter your license key serial number and press the "OK" button.
Alternatively, you may activate Grooper by importing a .lic licensing package file by selecting "Import License Package..."
Verify your licensing
If successful, your licensing information will populate below. If you do not see any licensing information, click the "Refresh" button at the end of the toolbar.
Licensing Grooper from an active Grooper Licensing service
Before you begin
A machine already running a licensed version of Grooper may create a Grooper Licensing service to hand out licenses to workstations. If you connected to a Grooper Repository from an existing database connection rather than creating a local one, this may be how you need to access your licensing. You may also need to add the server running the service to the Machines folder.
You will need to add a License Server to point to the Grooper Licensing service. However, Grooper Design Studio first needs connection information to the machine running the service. You add this connection information manually by adding a networked machine ID to the Machines folder. Once the machine running the service is added to the list of machines in Grooper Design studio, the workstation can access the Grooper Licensing service.
- 1. Open the Grooper Design Studio application.
- 2. Expand the "Infrastructure" folder from the Node Tree in the left hand panel and select the "Machines" folder.
- 3. Using the property panel to the right of the Node Tree, select the "Add Machine..." button from the toolbar.
- 4. Type the server's machine ID who is running the Grooper Licensing service and press the "OK" button.
The added machine ID will appear in the list of Machines when selecting the "Machines" folder as well as a Machines object as a child of the Machines Folder in the Node Tree.
Add a License Server
- 1. Expand the "Infrastructure" folder from the Node Tree in the left hand panel and select the "License Servers" folder.
- 2. Right click on the "License Servers" folder. Select "Add" and "License Server..."
- 3. Type a name for the License Server and press the "OK" button.
Configure the License Server
Using the "Server Name" property, select the server running the Grooper Licensing service and press "Save".
Set the License Server on the Grooper Root
- 1. Select the Grooper Root at the top of the Node Tree in the left hand panel. You will see the a property panel in the panel to the right.
- 2. Using the property panel on the right, select the created License Server from the drop down list on the "License Server" property.
Verify your licensing
Navigate from the "Grooper Root" tab to the "Licensing" tab. If successful, you will see your licensing information populated below.
Installing a Grooper Licensing service
Before you begin
The Grooper Licensing service will allow one licensed machine to hand out licensing information to other workstations.
To do this, the machine installing the service must have an installed version of Grooper that has been activated with a product key or licensing package.
Open Grooper Config
- 1. Open the Grooper Config application. You will need to run the program as an administrator by right-clicking the icon and selecting "Run as Administrator" to install or edit the Grooper Licensing service (or any other service for that matter).
- 2. Navigate from the "Repository Connections" tab to the "Services" tab.
Install the Service
- 1. Press the "Install.." button in the toolbar to create a new Grooper service.
- 2. Select "Grooper Licensing" from the list of services and press the "OK" button.
Configure the Service
Enter the necessary information. The "Host Name" property will be the name of the Machine installing the service. You must also enter the username and password credentials for the account running the service.
The account specified must:
- Have the Logon as Service permission on the machine running the service.
- Have access to the Grooper database (if Windows security is being used for SQL connections).
- Have access to the Grooper file store location.
In other words, the account should be able to fully access the Grooper Repository, since the repository consists of a the database and the file store.
Start the Service
- 1. Select the newly created service and press the "Start" button.
You will see the icon's color next to the service change from red to green, indicating the service is running.
