SYSPRO Avanti Installation

No special license is required to use SYSPRO Web UI (Avanti).

Loading SYSPRO Web UI (Avanti) is equivalent to loading the SYSPRO Desktop version (i.e. it uses the same user credentials and the same concurrency licensing model). This means that (provided you are allowed concurrent use), you can use SYSPRO Web UI (Avanti) and the SYSPRO Desktop version at the same time.

Security and other options defined for the user apply equally, regardless of whether you load SYSPRO Web UI (Avanti) or the SYSPRO Desktop version. Similarly, the security principles and options apply in SYSPRO Web UI (Avanti) for the company you select.

SYSPRO Web UI (Avanti) uses the same security and permissions that are configured in the SYSPRO Desktop version. This means that all user permissions and security settings must be enabled/disabled within SYSPRO.

The SYSPRO Installer Application lets you install SYSPRO 8 and its required software components, as well as deploy hotfixes.

After you have applied for SYSPRO 8 you will receive a notification email confirming your registration.

After your registration has been approved and the applicable license generated, you will receive an email with your new SYSPRO 8 license XML file and a link to the SYSPRO Installer Application download.

A 6-digit pin is included in your license file and in the email, which will be used when logging into your customer code within the Installer application.

A deployment group comprises a complete SYSPRO environment: from the application server, through all the necessary services, to any client machines that connect to the various servers in order to run a specific version of SYSPRO, together with any relevant hotfixes.

Deployment groups examples include:

• Live environment:

  Where SYSPRO is used for every facet of running a business.

• Test environment:

  Where new software is configured and evaluated in order to find the best way of applying it in the live environment.

• Disaster Recovery environment:

  Where the software is configured exactly as it is in the live environment, with backups from the live server restored on a daily basis. This ensures the minimum downtime should the live environment encounter a hardware failure.

A hotfix is the minimum software required to provide a solution for a specific problem experienced by one or more customers. These can also include any relevant dependencies.

SYSPRO provides hotfixes as a way of deploying software updates during the release of SYSPRO 8.

Types of hotfixes available include:

• Mandatory Hotfix

• Optional/Customer-specific Hotfix

• Consolidated Hotfix

• Diagnostic Hotfix

• Restricted Hotfix

• Withdrawn Hotfix

Please refer to the SYSPRO Hotfixes reference guide for a detailed explanation.

When you request a SYSPRO 8 license, you will receive an email containing the XML license file attachment.

Both of these codes are contained in the license file.

SYSPRO ERP needs access to the SYSPRO Deployment Service and the SYSPRO Deployment Service needs access to the internet 24/7 and Microsoft SQL Server.

Best practice guidelines for installing the SYSPRO Deployment Service:

• Don't install the service on the SYSPRO Application server, unless absolutely necessary.

  The reasons for this recommendation include:

  • You may not want to unnecessarily expose your application server to the internet.

  • You can't move the SYSPRO Deployment Service without uninstalling all SYSPRO Software.

    This would also break your SYSPRO Client Deployment Service Endpoints, which would require visiting each Client PC and manually updating the endpoint.

  • Ideally, you should always run the SYSPRO Deployment Service under a service account.

    This makes it easier to control internet access security as the Deployment Service is not proxy server aware, so security must be managed by the service account.

  If the SYSPRO Application servers are on the same network, then you should only be using one SYSPRO Deployment Service to avoid ending up with crosstalk.

  If you require two Deployment services, ensure that they are located on isolated networks.

• The machine on which you install the service must be visible to all SYSPRO machines involved.

• The machine must have permanent internet access to communicate with the SYSPRO Content Delivery Network (CDN) and services.

• Don't install the service on a customer laptop or standalone PC that could potentially be removed from the network.

• Testing servers should ideally not be able to see the Production server.

  One of the reasons behind this guideline is that if you restore the Production SYSPRO Databases directly on a test server and start to use it without making other crucial changes, you will inadvertently be updating the Production Data.

  For example:

  The address of the SYSPRO 8 e.net Communications Load Balancer on a restore within a test server would be pointing to the Production server until you change it.

  Therefore, if the test server can't see the production server, you reduce the risk of problems occurring later.

SYSPRO Installer Application version 1.0.0.44 onwards:

You can speed up the installation process by first downloading the installation files to a folder that the SYSPRO Installer Application can use.

Use the Product File Downloads function within the app.

SYSPRO Installer Application version 1.0.0.44 and prior:

You can speed up the installation process by copying previously downloaded installation files to a folder that the SYSPRO Installer Application can use.

Copy the latest files C:\SYSPRO Deployment\SYSPRO Release\* from a computer which has already downloaded the installs, to the target computer folder with the same name.

Product files are checksummed when they are used. The checksum hash for the product files is stored as an encrypted string in the ReleaseProductParameters SQL table. It is available in the collection of product parameters.

If the checksum doesn’t match, the install will not continue until it has been resolved.

In addition, every installation has been digitally signed by SYSPRO from EXEs to MSIs. Therefore, the digital signature is broken as soon as a file is edited and re-saved in any way.

SYSPRO Software is published to the Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN). Downloading software is optimized to obtain software based on point-of-presence (POP). The benefits of this include:

• Software is always current

• Local downloads result in faster speed and higher performance

• Large file support

• Available 24/7 (If one region should fail for any reason, the software is then sourced from another POP.)

• No more DVD installs

SYSPRO 8 must be installed on a 64-bit server because all the SYSPRO services are now 64-bit.

If the SYSPRO Installer Application detects that the machine on which it is setup is renamed, it will attempt to self-heal with an automatic reconfiguration process, in order to update the deployment details.

You can only have one deployment group per machine.

Therefore, if the SELECT button against the deployment group is grayed out, it means that this machine already has a deployment group configured against it and existing SYSPRO software installed.

• If you are running the SYSPRO Installer Application for the first time:

  From the Endpoint Address screen, disable the Install service using defaults option.

  This enables you to enter the installation parameters and domain credentials required to run the service.

  For more information about this process, view the Initial run of SYSPRO Installer section of the Help.

• If you are not running the SYSPRO Installer Application for the first time:

  From the Sign In Page, select the config icon () located in the top right-hand corner.

  This enables you to configure the service to use a named user.

  For more information about this process, view the Update Deployment Service Credentials section of the Help.

The Internet Information Services (IIS) WebSocket Protocol feature is required when installing one of the following:

• SYSPRO Web UI (Avanti)

• SYSPRO Point of Sale

Therefore, before installing either of these products, you can enable the Internet Information Services (IIS) WebSocket Protocol feature as follows:

1. Open the Turn Windows Features on or off program.

2. Navigate as follows:

   Internet Information Services > World Wide Web Services > Application Development Features

3. Enable the WebSocket Protocol option.

   

4. Save your changes.

The following SQL Server users must exist with the appropriate permissions enabled:

User type	Rules
Administration SQL user	The user entered here must have the following SQL permissions assigned: SQL Server Roles db_creator This is used to create and drop entities, such as databases, tables, columns, etc. bulkadmin This is used to issue BULK INSERT statements. securityadmin This is used to give database-level permissions as and when needed. processadmin This is used to end SQL processes running on the server using the View Users program.
	Database Mapping db_owner This needs to be set for both system-wide and company databases.
	The user cannot be the same account as the Standard SQL user and the User name cannot contain any spaces.
Standard SQL user	The user entered here must have the following SQL permissions enabled for both system-wide and company databases: db_datareader db_datawriter The user cannot be the same account as the Administrative SQL user and the User name cannot contain any spaces.

Yes, you can.

The only difference is during your SQL Configuration when running the SYSPRO Installer app for the first time.

At the SQL Server Name field, ensure that you enter the full instance name (e.g. INSTANCENAME\SQLEXPRESS).

You can check this entry if you run SQL Server Management Studio and view the instance to which you are logging in.

Use the SQL Server Credentials function within the app.

For more information on this, view the help section Updating SQL Server Credentials, located under Configuring the app.

When the SYSPRO Deployment Service is installed, ports 30250 (Endpoint port) and 3702 (Endpoint discovery) are enabled on the Windows firewall.

If you have additional firewall software, you need to open these ports within the software to enable the SYSPRO Installer app to function.

For sites with proxy servers, the following URLs must be open for the SYSPRO Deployment Service to retrieve software and communicate with the SYSPRO Azure service:

• SYSPRO 8 downloads (from Microsoft Azure CDN):

  https://syspro8install.azureedge.net/*

• Azure service calls:

  https://sysprodeploymentazlive.azurewebsites.net/*

• InfoZone:

  https://izauthservicedev.syspro.com/*

The SYSPRO Deployment Service provides support to be discoverable at runtime. Therefore, for WCF Discovery to work correctly, all NICs (Network Interface Controller) should only have one IP address.

Ports that must be open:

• UDP discovery: Port 3702

• Default listening endpoint: Port 30250

  This is the port to which the service responds.

  You can always manually enter the endpoint if discovery is not enabled.

Each application utilizes a portion of reserved memory called “desktop heap”. As a resource it is finite and so can be exhausted, at which point the following may occur:

• Programs may show erratic behavior and no longer function as expected.

• Processes end for no apparent, obvious or consistent reason (i.e. the error message is not always the same when one is received).

• Out Of Memory error messages may appear when you attempt to start new programs or try to use programs that are already running.

Unfortunately there are no longer tools available to monitor this. The last version of Microsoft Windows that was capable of monitoring desktop heap usage was Windows XP/Server 2003, after which Microsoft deprecated the kernel system driver that could be used to analyse and monitor this (in conjunction with a tool called “dheapmon”).

This memory does not relate or change with the addition or removal of physical memory, and so should not be confused with this in any way.

The size of each desktop heap allocation is controlled by the following registry value:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\SubSystems\Windows

The default data for this registry value will look something like the following (all on one line):

In a SYSPRO client/server environment the SYSPRO services on the server are allocated resources in the desktop heap of the server. More specifically, the SYSPRO services are associated with the non-interactive desktop heap of the server.

When each user calls up SYSPRO using either the client, or by running SYSPRO Web UI (Avanti), then an instance of SYSPRO.exe is executed on the server for this user.

Each process loaded in this way consumes some of the non-interactive desktop heap. As tasks are performed in SYSPRO by each user, then more of this allocation may be consumed. When a user is finished and closes SYSPRO the respective process on the server is ended and so the heap memory used is released.

If the non-interactive desktop heap becomes exhausted and were to run out of resources, this would prevent additional SYSPRO clients from connecting, and existing SYSPRO client/server connections may not be affected.

When this happens restarting of the respective services (e.g. SYSPRO Communications Service) will not resolve the issue because all of the existing processes associated with it (such as the users that are already logged in) are still running and consuming memory, therefore these processes would also need to be terminated.

We recommend that, in order for SYSPRO to run as expected, the non-interactive desktop heap on the SYSPRO application server be configured to 20480.

The numeric values following SharedSection= control how desktop heap is allocated. These SharedSection values are specified in kilobytes:

• The first value (1024) defines the system heap size.

• The second value (20480) controls the size of the interactive desktop heap (used for Windows objects).

• If a third value is present (e.g. “1024,20480,768”) then this covers the non-interactive desktop heap.

  If the third value is not present then non-interactive desktops will default to the same value as interactive desktops.

With each succeeding version of Microsoft Windows, the interactive desktop heap allocations have increased significantly, whereas the non-interactive portion has not.

As part of your preparation for installing SYSPRO 8, please ensure the following:

Step	Description
1.	Ensure that you have access to a SQL Server Administrative user name and password (e.g. 'sa'). This user must have the following administrative permissions enabled: Create and Drop entities (such as databases, tables, columns, etc.) for all SYSPRO databases. Issue BULK INSERT statements.
2.	Ensure that you have access to administrative privileges for all servers to which you will be installing SYSPRO 8 and its components.
3.	Confirm you have a valid SYSPRO license: Ensure that you have valid licenses for the software you will be installing. In particular, ensure that your new SYSPRO 8 license is valid for the modules you will be using.
4.	Verify third party products to ensure that the product or application is available and compatible with SYSPRO 8. In addition, ensure that you have the appropriate installation and licensing information required (particularly relating to SYSPRO 8).

As part of your preparation for upgrading to SYSPRO 8, please ensure the following:

Step	Description
1.	Confirm your SYSPRO companies have been migrated to SQL: If you are upgrading from SYSPRO 7 Update 1 and your company data has been migrated to SQL, then you can migrate directly to SYSPRO 8. If you are on any prior releases you have to upgrade version-by-version until you reach SYSPRO 7 Update 1. All company data needs to be in SQL before you can upgrade to SYSPRO 8.
2.	Ensure that you have access to a SYSPRO Administrator user name and password (e.g. ADMIN).
3.	Ensure that you have access to a SQL Server Administrative user name and password (e.g. 'sa'). This user must have the following administrative permissions enabled: Create and Drop entities (such as databases, tables, columns, etc.) for all SYSPRO databases Issue BULK INSERT statements.
4.	Confirm you have a valid SYSPRO license: Ensure that you have valid licenses for the software you will be installing. In particular, ensure that your new SYSPRO 8 license is valid for the modules you will be using.
5.	Run financial checks on your existing SYSPRO 7 Update 1 system: Ensure all pending transactions are posted to General Ledger. Ensure all modules are in the same period. Run a Balance function in all modules and retain reports for balancing purposes after the installation. Print distribution reports and retain reports for reference purposes after the installation. Print the At a Glance information for all modules. This can be used to confirm balances once you have completed the installation and conversion.
6.	Log out all users (i.e. SYSPRO operators and e.net users).
7.	Stop all SYSPRO services. This step is only required if you are upgrading to SYSPRO 8 and not running parallel to SYSPRO 7 Update 1.
8.	Check port numbers assigned to services: As part of the installation process for existing sites, a number of services will need to be reinstalled. During the installation you have the option to either assign new ports or use the existing SYSPRO 7 Update 1 ports. Reasons why you would select to use the SYSPRO 7 Update 1 ports include: SYSPRO 8 services can reuse the assigned firewall rules SYSPRO 8 Clients can connect to the same SYSPRO Communication Endpoint to save time SRS Printing will just work as it will use the same port number. When these services are reinstalled, you will need to review any connection issues as the new default port numbers might have changed (e.g. either reinstate the original port number or update the configuration of any calling applications to reflect the new port number).
9.	Verify third party products to ensure that the product or application is available and compatible with SYSPRO 8. In addition, ensure that you have the appropriate installation and licensing information required (particularly relating to SYSPRO 8).
10.	Disable SYSPRO users from logging into each company, until after installation and migration is complete.

Once a connection is made to the SYSPRO Deployment Service, login using your InfoZone credentials.

Partners and Super-users

Ensure that you enter the Customer ID for the customer being installed.

The Customer PIN is the 6-digit code included in the email you received that contained your SYSPRO 8 license.

You can verify your customer ID and PIN against the CustomerId and CustomerPin elements of the license XML file.

From the SYSPRO Installer Application home screen, select the SYSPRO ERP Software option.

When working with the SYSPRO Installer application you will perform all installations against one of your deployment groups. A deployment group is a name that describes an installation instance of SYSPRO.

Deployment Groups home screen

The Deployment Groups screen contains two default groups which are configured for a new install. You can, however, select to create a new group (Add New Deployment Group button) or edit one of the existing ones (Edit button).

Pressing the Select option on the Deployment Groups screen allows you to select the release applicable for install for that deployment group.

We recommend that you install the most recent software release, but you may select any suitable version.

All products that are available for installation are displayed on the Product Selection screen. The choices displayed here may vary depending on the SYSPRO Release that you have selected for the current deployment group.

Products that have already been installed on your machine are displayed at the bottom of the list.

If you select a product that requires another product(s) to be installed as a prerequisite, those products are automatically added to the installation list, in the correct sequence.

To install SYSPRO Web UI (Avanti), select the following products:

• SYSPRO 8 Avanti Initialization Service

• SYSPRO Avanti Web Service

Once you have indicated all of your required products to install, select the Continue button.

The SYSPRO Installer verifies your system against all prerequisites required for the products you select to install. Should any product fail a prerequisite check at this stage, the Prerequisites screen is displayed.

The following prerequisites are required for the SYSPRO Web UI (Avanti) services:

• SYSPRO 8 Server
• SYSPRO 8 Service Upgrade Manager
• SYSPRO 8 e.net Communications Load Balancer (valid endpoint configured in System Setup)
• Microsoft .NET Framework 4.6

The Review Product Parameters screen allows you to review all parameters required for each product selected for install. These parameters were generated for the release using the the ReleaseProductParameters table.

You cannot continue until all product parameters have been validated.

Click the Review button against each product that indicates a warning icon. This will display a parameters screen, prompting you to verify and/or change various properties, before validating the entries.

Once validated, the warning icon changes to a confirmation tick, indicating that you can proceed to the next product's parameters.

The following provides details of each product's parameters and their considerations:

Read and accept the license terms and conditions before continuing with the install.

A summary of all products to be installed is displayed for you to review.

Once you are satisfied with the list, continue by selecting the Begin Install button. The silent download of install files and installation of all selected products then commences.

The appropriate status information is shown during the installation process.

The Install Complete screen is displayed with a summary of all products installed.

Optional Delete Product Media Files

To delete the product media files that were downloaded for your install, proceed as follows:

1. Enable the Delete downloaded product install media option and select Continue.

   A confirmation screen is then displayed which lists the product media files to be deleted.

2. Review the items for deletion on the Delete Product Install Media screen and select Continue to proceed with the deletion process.

   The app returns a confirmation page once the deletion process has completed, which indicates the files that were deleted.

Configure the Start Mode and Idle Time-out values against the application pool:

1. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

2. Within the Connections pane, navigate to the Application Pools folder.

3. From the Application Pools pane, right-click SYSPROAvanti and select the Advanced Settings option.

4. Define the Start Mode and Idle Time-out options as follows:

   1. Start Mode = AlwaysRunning

   2. Idle Time-out (minutes) = 0

5. Save your changes.

1. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

2. Configure the application pool's recycling conditions to occur at a specified time:

   1. Within the Connections pane, navigate to the Application Pools folder.

   2. From the Application Pools pane, right-click on SYSPROAvanti and select Recycling.

      The Edit Application Pool Recycling Settings window is displayed.

   3. Enable the Specific time(s) option to recycle the application pool outside of normal operating hours, and define the entry as per your requirements.

   4. Save your changes.

3. Ensure the application is preloaded when recycling:

   1. Within the Connections pane, navigate to the Sites folder and locate the SYSPROAvanti site.

   2. Right-click the SYSPROAvanti site and select Manage Application, followed by the Advanced Settings option.

   3. Define the Preload Enabled option as True.

   4. Save your changes.

To ensure that the latest components are always in use by the 'client' browser, we recommend that you set web content to expire immediately.

1. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

2. Within the Connections pane, navigate to the Sites folder and locate the SYSPROAvanti site.

3. Once you have selected the SYSPROAvanti site, double-click the HTTP Response Headers option from the IIS section.

4. On the HTTP Response Headers screen, select the Set Common Headers option from the Actions pane.

   The Set Common HTTP Response Headers window is displayed.

5. Select the Expire Web content option and enable the Immediately radio button.

6. Save your changes.

Define the maximum content length allowed in the Request Filtering options:

1. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

2. Within the Connections pane, navigate to the Sites folder and locate the SYSPROAvanti site.

3. Once you have selected the SYSPROAvanti site, double-click the Request Filtering option from the IIS section.

4. On the Request Filtering screen, select the Edit Feature Settings option from the Actions pane.

   The Edit Request Filtering Settings window is displayed.

5. Define the Maximum allowed content length (Bytes) option as 2147483647.

6. Save your changes.

Define the maximum request length setting against the specific site:

1. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager.

2. Within the Connections pane, navigate to the Sites folder and locate the SYSPROAvanti site.

3. Once you have selected the SYSPROAvanti site, double-click the Configuration Editor option from the Management section.

4. On the Configuration Editor screen, select system.web/httpRuntime at the Section drop-down field.

5. Define the maxRequestLength entry as 2147483647.

6. Apply your changes.