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How to install SquaredUp DS for SCOM

Documentation Team
  • Updated

How to install SquaredUp DS for SCOM

Installing SquaredUp DS takes just 5 minutes. It can be installed on any server and does not require any new databases or SCOM Management Packs.

You'll probably install SquaredUp DS in a test environment first, so this guide is designed to get you up and running as quickly as possible.

When you're ready to deploy into production you may have a few questions - such as upgrades and designing for high availability - which we cover in our Deployment FAQ.

This articles covers how to install the latest version of DS for SCOM for the first time.

If you have an earlier version of DS for SCOM already installed, then the installer will upgrade your installation, see How to upgrade SquaredUp DS for SCOM (in-place)

Video Guide

The video below (4 mins) runs through the steps detailed in this article:

What you need

  • Your SquaredUp DS for SCOM license activation key. You will have received this by email following your purchase or free trial.
  • A server to install on (see below)

  • A compatible browser (make sure the server's default browser is not set to Internet Explorer)

    • SquaredUp DS works best with the latest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Safari on desktop & mobile.

    Internet Explorer is not supported on SquaredUp DS v5 and above. Older browsers may show a blank page.

    On SquaredUp DS v4 Internet Explorer 9 and earlier versions are not supported.

  • SquaredUp DS for SCOM v5.9 and above can be used with either System Center Operations Manager or Azure Monitor SCOM Managed Instance (SCOM MI) Preview edition.

    The SCOM management server must be running Operations Manager 2016, 2019 or 2022. Operations Manager 2007, 1801, 1807 and 2012 are not supported.

  • The name of your SCOM management server. For SCOM MI use the load balancer DNS name.
  • A user who has SCOM admin permissions, and also ideally SQL database admin permissions for the SCOM Data Warehouse

A restart of the server may be required.

Where to install

SquaredUp DS for SCOM can be installed on any Windows Server machine in your environment. The setup application will automatically install IIS and any other prerequisites. The only dependency is that the server will need access to your SCOM Management Server and your SCOM Data Warehouse server. (If you want, you can even install it on one of these two servers.)

As Internet Explorer is not supported, check that another browser is set as the server's default browser (search Windows > default apps).

Here is what we recommend:

  • Ideally provision a new server dedicated to hosting SquaredUp DS
  • Alternatively, install it on an existing SCOM Web Console Server
  • Or install it on a SCOM Management Server

For more information, see System Requirements, Server Spec and Sizing

 

Run the installer

  1. Run the installer .exe on the machine that you want to be your SquaredUp DS server.

  2. Click Next

  3. Accept the License Agreement and click Install.

    Prerequisites will be installed if not installed already.

    A restart of the server may be required.

    If your server has restarted the install should resume when the server restarts, but you may need to click Deploy SquaredUp DS from the Start menu.

  4. Click Next to move on to check the deployment location.

    If the installer detects a version of DS for SCOM is already installed then it will default to an In-Place upgrade, meaning that it will upgrade the current DS for SCOM instance. See How to upgrade SquaredUp DS for SCOM (in-place). Version 5 and below default to a side-by-side install, see How to migrate from SquaredUp DS for SCOM v3 to v4 (side-by-side) or How to migrate from SquaredUp DS for SCOM v4 (side-by-side)

  5. Check the installation details and click next.

    SquaredUp DS can be installed in two different layouts:

    • As an application as a subfolder of the Default Web Site. This is the default installer layout.

    • At the website root, this layout is used to deploy SquaredUp DS to a dedicated web site.

    Application

    The default installer layout is Application and the physical path is configured as a subfolder of the Default Web Site. The SquaredUp DS installer will create the application and app pool automatically based on the information that is provided, assuming that the Default Web Site exists.

    While the physical path in this configuration does not necessarily need to be a subfolder of the web site’s physical path, it must not be set to the same path as the web site. For instance, if the Default Web Site’s physical path is C:\inetpub\wwwroot as shown in the screenshot below, then the Physical disk path set in the SquaredUp DS installer would typically be C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUp. It must not be C:\inetpub\wwwroot as this would cause SquaredUp DS to exhibit unexpected behavior.

    This layout should also be selected if SquaredUp DS is to be installed as an Application underneath a website other than the Default Web Site. As is the case with installing to the Default Web Site, the target web site must already exist in IIS. Update the Website field on the Paths tab of the installer to match the target web site name and set the Physical disk path field to an appropriate path, ensuring that this path is different to the target web site’s physical path.

    Website root

    The Website root layout is used to deploy SquaredUp DS to a dedicated web site. In this instance, the Physical disk path will match the web site’s physical path. The SquaredUp DS installer will create the web site and application pool automatically using the information provided, so there is no need to manually create the web site prior to installing SquaredUp DS.

    Setting the Pool Identity

    With the layout selected, the log on account for the SquaredUp DS app pool can be configured. By default this is set to Network Service, but it can be changed to a domain account if needed:

    See How to check and modify the application pool identity

    Configuring the SCOM Management Server Address

    Optionally, the SCOM server address can be entered into the installer at this point, but this information is also requested later on in the installation wizard.

  6. Enter the fully qualified domain name of your SCOM Management server. For SCOM MI use the load balancer DNS name.

    Click Deploy

  7. If SSL is not already configured for the chosen website, then the Configure SSL Binding page will appear. You will need to choose whether you want to configure an SSL certificate.

    Existing CertificateUse this option to choose an existing SSL certificate.
    Create Self-Signed CertificateThe installer will create a new self-signed certificate, set to expire after 12 months.
    None

    This will not configure any SSL bindings. You can configure an appropriate binding manually within IIS later if you wish.

    For more information about these options see How to configure TLS/SSL (HTTPS)

  8. Click Finish once the deployment is complete.

Logon to SquaredUp DS for the first time

Clicking Finish at the end of the installation will open SquaredUp DS for SCOM in a browser.

If it doesn't open automatically browse to the URL for SquaredUp DS:

If you used the downloadable installer:

By default, the URL to your SquaredUp DS instance is: http://SquaredUpServer/SquaredUpInstance

SquaredUpServer is the name of the server where SquaredUp DS is installed.

By default, SquaredUpInstance is SquaredUp. For v5 it is SquaredUpv5 and for v4 SquaredUpv4. If you gave your SquaredUp DS instance a different application name when you installed it, use the name you chose.

On the server it would be http://localhost/SquaredUp

If the browser appears blank when browsing to SquaredUp DS, ensure the server's default browser is not set to Internet Explorer, which is no longer supported. To check your default browser, search Windows > default apps.

SquaredUp DS works best with the latest versions of Edge, Chrome, Firefox and Safari on desktop & mobile.

Internet Explorer is not supported on SquaredUp DS v5 and above. Older browsers may show a blank page.

On SquaredUp DS v4 Internet Explorer 9 and earlier versions are not supported.

Before you can get started, SquaredUp DS for SCOM has to complete some final configuration of your environment, such as activating your license and configuring the connection to the SCOM Data Warehouse.

SquaredUp DS setup wizard

  1. Log in to SquaredUp DS as a SCOM administrator user, who is also a SQL sysadmin (How to make a user a SQL sysadmin) for the SCOM Data Warehouse database.

    If you are unable to log in to SquaredUp DS, then you should open the scom.json file to check that the SCOM server name is correct: Go to File, Run, type notepad, right-click and select Run as administrator and open C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUp\User\Configuration\scom.json

    Name of the SquaredUp folder

    The default name of the SquaredUp folder is SquaredUp for v6 and above.

    For v5 it is SquaredUpv5, and for v4 SquaredUpv4.

    Location of the SquaredUp folder

    A custom location may have been chosen during the installation.

    The default location for the SquaredUp folder is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUp

    For v5 it is C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv5 and for v4 C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUpv4.

    For example:

    C:\inetpub\wwwroot\SquaredUp\User\Configuration\scom.json

  2. Paste in your activation key, and click Activate.

    You will have received your activation key by email following your purchase or free trial.

    If you have not received a license key please contact SquaredUp Support.

    If your server is not connected to the internet (or the online activation didn't work because of proxy settings) click offline activation (see How to activate your license offline (manual activation))

    If you see a message that the maximum number of activations has been exceeded see "License already activated" or "Maximum activations reached".

  3. Click Setup to configure the connection to the Data Warehouse.

    If you are using SCOM MI, the Data Warehouse permissions setup is not necessary, and will error, so click skip to bypass this stage. For SCOM MI you should configure the SQL connection within SquaredUp DS once it is fully installed see SCOM MI Data Warehouse Connection

    SquaredUp DS connects to the Data Warehouse to show performance metrics and other data. This page will automatically add the permissions necessary for SquaredUp DS to read the data from the Data Warehouse.

    If you see an error saying the login failed, see this article "Login failed for user" when configuring the Data Warehouse.

    If the Data Warehouse connection can't be configured automatically, you can configure the Data Warehouse Permissions Manually (see Manually creating the Data Warehouse permissions).

  4. Click Setup to configure Open Access.

  5. Click Next to continue, once Open Access has been configured.

  6. Click Import to import the recommended management packs. Enterprise Application Monitoring requires several additional SCOM management packs. The Core Library enables Enterprise Applications to be saved into and monitored by SCOM, others provide a number of useful SCOM Agent Tasks to allow discovery to run in Visual Application Discovery & Analysis (VADA).

  7. Click Download to import a set of recommended Dashboard Packs. The list of Dashboard Packs available is based on the SCOM management packs you have installed.
    You can click on the relevant dashboard packs link to deselect any dashboard packs you don't wish to install. Further Dashboard Packs can be installed once the setup is complete.


  8. Setup is now complete and the Getting Started page will be displayed.

  9. SCOM MI Data Warehouse Connection

    If you are using SCOM MI you now need to configure the data warehouse connection. In DS for SCOM click on the top right hand menu ☰ > Settings > Connections tab. Under Other Connections add the following:

    KeyValue
    data-warehouse
    FQDN_SQL_Managed_Instance,1433;Initial Catalog=SCOMMIDW; User Id = InsertSCOMAdminUsername; Password = xxxxxxxx

    Where you replace FQDN_SQL_Managed_Instance with the FQDN for the SQL Managed Instance, InsertSCOMAdminUsername with the username of a SCOM admin user, and xxxxxxxx with this user's password.

    Click Apply Changes.

If you have queries about how you might deploy SquaredUp DS into your production environment see Deployment FAQ.

Next steps

  1. Take a look at the Getting Started with SquaredUp DS for SCOM Quick Win video series on YouTube.
  2. Manage which users can access SquaredUp DS: How to manage Named Users
  3. Set up a SquaredUp DS administrator(s). To manage SquaredUp DS you will need to be a SquaredUp DS administrator, see Types of users in SquaredUp DS
  4. Give dashboard authors permission to create dashboards. A SquaredUp DS administrator will need to give users or groups author permission to a Team Folder, within which they can create and edit dashboards. See Team Folders
  5. Get access to your API data: How to add a Web API provider
  6. Configure Open Access dashboards. Open Access enables easy sharing of dashboards, that do not require authentication to view. See Sharing Dashboards with anyone - Open Access
  7. Create your first dashboard: How to create a dashboard

We've also put together a short guide on some of the best features you'll want to check out in our Getting Started Guide (see Welcome to SquaredUp DS for SCOM).

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