NiceLabel installation checklists

Before you begin the installation of NiceLabel software, follow the links and topics in the installation guides about the system requirements. NiceLabel software has some dependencies on other components that have to be enabled before the installation.

Please see the requirements published on the NiceLabel website first, they precede information from this KB article.

This topic provides pre-installation and post-installation checklists for NiceLabel software.

Pre-installation checklist

For NiceLabel Control Center
  • Available access to the Windows accounts with administrative privileges and SQL system administrator.

    Warning

    When installing the software to multiple servers, manage all servers through the same Windows domain.

    Install NiceLabel software with administrative privileges:

    1. On the Windows server with Internet Information Services role where you install Control Center web site.

    2. On the Windows server with Microsoft SQL Server role where you install the Control Center database, so you can add the users EPM_DBADMIN and EPM_USER as local Windows users. The provided Windows account must be a domain user (not a local Windows user) and must be a member of the local user group Administrators.

    3. On the SQL Server so you can add the Control Center database to the SQL Server. The entered user must have the sysadmin server role defined on the SQL server. This must be an SQL user name, usually "sa."

    Note

    If you used a Windows user account with administrative privileges on the Windows machine with SQL Server and the SQL Server itself to install Control Center, you need just this one user name/password (and you can skip steps 2. and 3.).

  • Internet access for the activation process

    You need Internet access to activate NiceLabel Control Center. You don't need to allow an Internet connection to the Windows Server where you have installed Control Center.

  • Prerequisites for the Microsoft SQL Server

    • The Control Center database requires installing SQL Server with case-insensitive collation.

    • Enable the SQL Server Browser service if you use instance names. This makes the instances visible to external clients.

    • Enable the TCP/IP protocol for your SQL Server, if you install the SQL Server on a different machine than the Control Center Web page. Start SQL Server Configuration Manager, expand SQL Server Network Configuration , and enable the TCP/IP for your server/instance.

    • Enable the inbound connection towards the SQL Server. Start Windows Firewall with Advanced Security and add a new Inbound Rule to allow the program sqlservr.exe to accept incoming connections. You can find the program in the folder C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL<version_number>.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\Binn.

    • If the RPC port on the server that hosts your SQL database is blocked, the installation of your Control Center fails. Check that the RPC port on your SQL server is open. The RPC port number is usually 135 or 445, depending on your system configuration.

  • Installing Control Center on a Windows Server with enabled Remote Desktop Services (Terminal Services) role

    Switch the Remote Desktop Server to Install mode before you install the applications on the server:

    1. Open the Control Panel.

    2. Select Programs.

    3. Select Install Application on Remote Desktop Server.

    4. Browse for the installation executable, click OK, and follow the on-screen instructions.

    Note

    This tool is available only when installing the terminal server. It automatically puts the terminal server into execute mode when application installation is complete.

  • Port 8080 TCP availability on the computer where you intend to install the Control Center

    Verify that the port 8080 TCP is not used by another application running on the same computer. NiceLabel Control Center occupies port 8080 to allow WebDAV access to the Document Storage. If the port is already in use, choose some other port for Document Storage Server WebDAV communication. Enable the sysadmin server role defined on the SQL server to the entered user.

    You can run Windows command-line utility netstat.exe to see a list of open ports on your computers.

    1. Open the Command Prompt window.

    2. Type in the following command:

      netstat -ano

    3. If you see that port 8080 is already in use, choose another port for Control Center so you do not disrupt the existing application.

Post-installation checklist

For NiceLabel Control Center
  • Open ports in the firewall

    Allow the following inbound communication:

    • 80 TCP: Inbound connections to Control Center. The browsers on the workstations open the Control Center page.

    • 8080 TCP: Inbound connection to the Document Storage (WebDAV usage). You can choose a different port during the installation.

    • 6773 TCP: NiceLabel Proxy Service 10. Connection for application management streams and licensing.

  • If you use HTTPS traffic (SSL/TLS), enable it for all sites

    To encrypt the traffic between NiceLabel clients and NiceLabel Control Center, enable HTTPS protocol for both sites, where NiceLabel Control Center runs:

    • Default Web Site: Exposes the connection to the main Control Center UI.

    • EPMWebDav: Enables integration of document storage in NiceLabel clients through WebDAV protocol.

    If you enable HTTPS support, disable HTTP traffic. The clients cannot use both protocols at the same time. Remove binding to the HTTP protocol for both sites in IIS.

For NiceLabel clients (Desktop Designer, Automation, Print)
  • Enable access to authentication servers (for Loftware Cloud products)

    The following sites are added into the Trusted sites zone (in Internet options > Security settings).

    If you use Microsoft authentication:

    • https://*.onnicelabel.com

    • https://login.microsoftonline.com

    • https://aadcdn.msftauth.net

    • https://aadcdn.msauth.net

    • https://login.live.com

    If you use Google authentication:

    • https://*.onnicelabel.com

    • https://accounts.google.com

    • https://ssl.gstatic.com

  • Enable full access permissions to the NiceLabel System folder

    NiceLabel client requires full access (read, write, delete) to the System folder.

    The system folder is at this location:

    %PROGRAMDATA%\NiceLabel\NiceLabel <version>\

    This is usually not an issue because the folder %PROGRAMDATA% has write permission by default.

  • Open ports in the firewall

    If you use Windows Firewall and it is running, installation adds the exceptions to the list of allowed incoming connections. If Windows Firewall is off, the exceptions are not added automatically. If you use another firewall, configure it manually.

    • 56416 TCP: Incoming connection from Control Center to NiceLabel Automation service that allows remote management of Automation service.

    • 6772 TCP: NiceLabel Proxy Service 10. Connection for application management streams and licensing.

  • Support for WebDAV to use files in the Document Storage

    Install the WebDAV support to each machine that needs to access data inside a Document Storage repository. Windows desktop OS have the WebDAV support already installed. Add the WebDAV support for Windows Server OS manually.

    Note

    The "clients" are not only the NiceLabel Desktop Designer applications but any software accessing the Document Storage, including NiceLabel Automation or even File Explorer.

  • If you use a proxy server, exclude local traffic from proxy

    Bypass proxy server for local addresses, or the client might not get the license from the NiceLabel Control Center, and files in Document Storage are not available. For more information, see our dedicated topic.

  • Add Control Center to the Trusted sites

    Add NiceLabel Control Center to the list of Trusted Sites in your browser. This will allow the Document Storage plugin to run in your browser.

  • Client prerequisites for running NiceLabel clients as RemoteApp programs

    To access RemoteApp programs that are deployed as .RDP files, the client computer must run Remote Desktop Connection (RDC) 6.0 or RDC 6.1.

    Windows systems already include A supported version of the RDC client. To access RemoteApp programs on Mac OS or Android OS, install the Microsoft Remote Desktop client.