Network Installation and Activation of HYDRUS 1.xx
Introduction
The HYDRUS network license requires that HYDRUS must be started from a network drive, i.e. HYDRUS program files (Hydrus3D.exe and other DLLs) may not be located on a local disk.
Let's assume you have a Windows network, as in the Figure below, and you want to install and activate HYDRUS on 20 computers (Client_01, …, Client_20). It doesn't matter which Windows operating system is on the server or on client computers, and it also does not matter if your network is "peer-to-peer" or if there is a Windows server. Here we call “Server” the computer that shares the disk or directory where HYDRUS is installed. The HYDRUS installation and activation requires administrator privileges. Access privileges for HYDRUS users (standard users) are discussed below.
Network Installation of HYDRUS
Here we assume that you have downloaded the latest installation program of HYDRUS 1.xx and extracted setup files to a temporary directory.
Steps to be done on the server:
- Create a directory on the server (for example D:\Hydrus) and share this directory on your LAN so that you can access it from all client computers. For the installation and activation you will need full access to this directory from all clients. Restrictions of access privileges for standard users are discussed below.
- Create a subdirectory D:\Hydrus\Installation and copy the HYDRUS setup files to this directory.
Steps to be done on all clients:
- Map the shared network drive on Server\\Hydrus as drive “X:\” where the letter “X” can be replaced by any other available letter (for example “W”), but the same letter must be used on all client computers. The path to the HYDRUS installation directory must be exactly the same on all clients (for example "X:\Hydrus 1.xx\Hydrus3D.exe"), otherwise HYDRUS authorization will not work correctly. When mapping the network drive, check the option "Reconnect at Logon".
- The UNC path: If you use a Windows Domain on your LAN then remember that the UNC path to HYDRUS installation directory must be the same on all clients. For example there would be a problem if HYDRUS was activated on a client attaching to "\\server\hydrus" and another client (using a domain account) was attaching through "\\server.domain.com\hydrus".
- Run X:\Installation\Setup.exe and install HYDRUS program files to directory X:\HYDRUS 1.xx.
- HYDRUS data files (projects, settings, etc.) can be installed either to a local directory (on a local disk of the client computer), which is recommended, or to a shared directory (for example X:\HYDRUS 1.xx ). HYDRUS users must have sufficient rights to read/write/delete/create files in this directory.
We recommend installing HYDRUS data files on a local drive for the following reasons:- Data Protection: Although HYDRUS can handle a situation where several users open a project at the same time, it is not recommended. especially if the installation is intended for a classroom, where students often work simultaneously on the same project. Such a situation could lead to many mistakes, and it would be very easy to overwrite someone else's project. Users might also risk overwriting each other's settings (for example display options, etc.), if the file with these options is shared.
- The work with files located on a network drive may be slower than with files on a local drive. This, of course, depends on the speed of your network.
- You may share still some projects on you network, even if you install “Projects and User Settings” on a local drive. Just open the Project Manager (in HYDRUS) and create a new “Project Group” with the network path that you need.
We allow installation of HYDRUS projects and settings on any drive (just to give you this choice), but we cannot recommend installation of these files on a network drive. Please remember that HYDRUS program files (HYDRUS3D.EXE, etc.) must be installed on a network drive if you want to use the network activation.
- Run X:\Hydrus 1.xx\Hydrus3D.exe to test whether HYDRUS runs correctly as a demo version. Important: HYDRUS must be run on each client PC at least once under an administrator account; otherwise the authorization will not work on that PC correctly.
- Important: Close HYDRUS before starting HYDRUS installation on another computer. If you do not close HYDRUS, then its program files (Hydrus3D.exe and all DLLs) are locked by the running program and installation on other clients will fail.
- Repeat steps 1 - 6 on all client computers. This must be done to install system DLLs to local Windows systems, and to register HYDRUS components on all client computers.
HYDRUS Activation
Activation of HYDRUS on one client will automatically activate HYDRUS on all clients. You can also install HYDRUS on additional clients later (after activation), they will be activated automatically too.
Steps to be done on one of the clients (so called Master client):
- Please remember that HYDRUS activation requires administrator’s privileges, i.e. you must be logged as administrator when generating request codes and when entering activation codes. Under Windows Vista and Windows 7 you must run HYDRUS “As Administrator” (click on HYDRUS icon on your desktop by right mouse button and select “Run As Administrator”).
- Run HYDRUS and go to the “HYDRUS License and Activation” dialog (see the picture below)
- In the left combo-box select the HYDRUS Level you want to activate. The program will generate License Request Information involving two codes specific for your computer and the selected product.
- Copy and save the generated license request information. Press the "Copy" button ("Copy to the clipboard" in older versions) which will copy request codes and the program version to the clipboard.
- Open NOTEPAD (or another word-processing program) and paste request codes from the clipboard (press Ctrl + V). The pasted text should look like this:
Hydrus version: 1.09
Level to activate: 3D Standard
Network License: Yes
Max. LAN users : 20
Request Code 1: 298032304
Request Code 2: 118295067
- Important: Check stability of your request codes. Close HYDRUS and open it again. Go to the HYDRUS License and Activation dialog and check displayed request codes. They must be the same as your previous codes displayed in the NOTEPAD. If your new request codes are different then there is a problem and you must inform us about that.
- Send your request codes (the text in NOTEPAD) to your HYDRUS distributor by e-mail. Please, do not forget to add your HYDRUS license number or another information that would allow us to find your license in our database.
- When you receive activation codes from your HYDRUS distributor run HYDRUS and enter received codes in the "HYDRUS License and Activation" dialog into fields "Key1" and "Key2" and press the button "Activate Now". Important: Activation codes must be entered on the same computer and under the same user account that was used to generate request codes.
- Make sure that HYDRUS runs correctly as the full version on this computer
Next Steps to be done on all clients:
Run HYDRUS on all clients and verify that it works correctly as the full version, i.e. that you can run calculations (for example: Menu Files -> Project Manager -> select Test4 -> button Calculate) and save changed projects.
Important Remark:
Remember that activation codes are hardware- and network-dependent and will not work on another network. You should deactivate HYDRUS before any hardware changes on the server, reinstallation of Windows or changing the network path to HYDRUS. To avoid problems, please, read thoroughly Important Remarks on HYDRUS Activation and Deactivation.
Securing HYDRUS installation files
You should set appropriate access privileges for the shared HYDRUS installation folder so that standard users (or members of a special group created for HYDRUS users) may run the program correctly, but at the same time they should not be able to make any undesirable actions (such as deactivation of HYDRUS, etc.). The following actions are recommended:
- Remove access permissions for “everyone” for the file X:\Hydrus 1.xx\Hydrus3D.lf. These permissions are set automatically during HYDRUS activation (this is done by the software licensing component that we use, and we are not able to change that behavior).
- Standard users should have only “Read” and “Execute” permission for the directory X:\Hydrus 1.xx and all its subdirectories except the subdirectory NetLic.
- Standard users should have “Read” and “Write” and “Delete” permissions for the directory X:\Hydrus 1.xx\NetLic. This directory is designated for the semaphore files of HYDRUS floating licenses. Although standard users have “Write” and "Delete" permissions for this folder they cannot delete or damage HYDRUS semaphore files, because these files are locked by running instances of HYDRUS.
- After these changes, standard users should not be able to deactivate HYDRUS, nor delete or modify any HYDRUS program files.
HYDRUS projects and other data files
We recommend installation of HYDRUS projects and settings files to a directory on the local drive of the client computer. The default destination under Windows Vista is C:\Users\Public\Documents\PC-Progress\HYDRUS 1.xx (in version 1.04 or later). You can change this path either during installation or later in the HYDRUS program options according to your needs. However, you should remember that HYDRUS users must have full access to this directory, otherwise the program will not work correctly.
HYDRUS HTML Help
Since the introduction of Microsoft Security Update 896358 there may be problems with running HTML Help located on a server (network drive). Most commonly, clicking on a topic in the TOC gets a “Page Cannot Be Displayed” message. To solve this problem, HYDRUS installation program sets the key KEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\HTMLHelp\1.x\ItssRestrictions in the Windows registration database, which allows starting HTML help (file Hydrus3D.chm) from the HYDRUS installation directory (Server\\Hydrus\Program). However, if you rename the installation directory, then the HTML help amy stop working correctly. You can find more information about this problem at www.grainge.org/pages/authoring/chm_mspatch/896358.htm.