Installation

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Prerequisites before installing INSIGHT

Hardware Requirements

Insight must be installed on an IIS server. The minimum hardware requirements for the server are:

  • 2 Cores (2.5GHz)
  • 4GB RAM

The higher recommended specifications are:

  • 4 Cores (2.5GHz)
  • 16GB RAM

Software Requirements

The server hosting Insight must have the following:

  • Windows Server 2008 Web Edition (or above)
  • IIS7 (or above)
  • Microsoft.Net Framework 4.0
  • SIMS Workstation Components

NOTE: It is important that on the IIS server the order of installation is Windows -> Webserver software -> .net software

IIS7 / IIS7.5

Web Server

Common HTTP Features
Static Content
Default Document
HTTP Errors
HTTP Redirection
Application Development
ASP .NET
.Net Extensibility
ASP
ISAPI Extensions
ISAPI Filters
Security
Windows Authentication
Management Tools
IIS Management Console
IIS Management Scripts and Tools
IIS 6 Management Compatibility
IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility


IIS8 (Server2012)

1. On the Start page, click the Server Manager tile, and then click OK.
2. In Server Manager, select Dashboard, and click Add roles and features.
3. In the Add Roles and Features Wizard, on the Before you begin page, click Next.
4. On the Select installation type page, select Role-based or feature-based installation, and click Next.
5. On the Select destination server page, select Select a server from the server pool, select your server, and click Next.
6. On the Select server roles page, select Web Server (IIS), and click Next.
7. On the Select features page, click Next.
8. On the Web Server Role (IIS) page, click Next.
9. On the Select role services page, note the preselected role services that are installed by default, expand the Application Development node, and then select ASP.NET 4.5. (If you installed .NET 3.5, select ASP.NET 3.5 also.)
10. On the Summary of Features to Install page, confirm your selections, and then click Install.
11. In the Add features that are required for ASP.NET 4.5? box, click Add Features.

The following additional features are added:
.NET Extensibility 4.5
ISAPI Extensions
ISAPI Filters
.NET Extensibility 3.5 (If ASP.NET 3.5 was selected)

12. Click Next.
13. On the Confirm installation selections page, click Install.
14. On the Installation progress page, confirm that your installation of the Web Server (IIS) role and required role services completed successfully, and then click Close.
15. To verify that IIS installed successfully type the following into a web browser: http://localhost

Other Requirements

Connect.ini file

The local CONNECT.INI file in %Program Files%\SIMS\SIMS .net additionally must not be a 'redirect' type - it must be an 'end-point' type, explicitly specifying the server instance and database name.

PARS

If you are also installing PARS, or migrating PARS and Insight to new servers, you should install PARS first. For information about installing PARS, see the installation page on the PARS Connect wiki.

SSL certificate

To encrypt traffic between the server and client and to enable https for Insight, an SSL certificate will be required. This can be purchased in advance of installing Insight (the URL that will be used for Insight and the name of the server that Insight will be installed on will be required).

An SSL certificate is not required when installing Insight and can be acquired after installation.

SIMS user

A single SIMS user account is required by Insight to access the SIMS database. The username and password of each account need to be entered during installation. If the passwords for these accounts are changed, the credentials entered in the Insight service controller will need to be changed also. Therefore using accounts for which the passwords do not change will require the least amount of maintenance. The SIMS user account must have the following permissions:

Group manager > User defined
View (All)
Edit (All)
Delete (All)
View Membership (All)
Edit Membership (All)

Students > Attendance
View (All)
Edit (All)

Students > Registration
View (All)
Edit (All)

Students > Student Exam Results
View (All)

Students > Timetable and Academic Classes
View (All)
Edit (All)

Installing INSIGHT

Downloading the service pack

Service packs for Insight are available via the TASC Software website, www.tascsoftware.co.uk. An account is needed to access the website. Accounts can be created by our support team who are available on 01902 824281.

The downloads button at the top of the page is used to access service packs for various products. The Insight service packs are used to installed and/or update Insight.

Running the service pack

The service pack should be run on the IIS server that is going to host Insight. If all prerequisites have been met the Service Controller window will open. There are a number of nodes on the left hand side.

Data tier

The service pack may require you to enter the SA username and password for the SQL instance that hosts SIMS. The Data tier tab will also need to have the location of the connect.ini file for the SIMS installation on the IIS server (the server that Insight is being installed onto).

If there is a tick next to the Data tier tab, on the left of the service pack window, then the information for that tab is correct.

Application tier

The Insight application needs to be added to a site in IIS. This action is handled on the Application tier tab of the service pack.

The existing sites from IIS will be listed. The Insight application can be added to one of these sites, or a new site can be created. New sites can be created using the plus button above the list of sites. New sites require a name, port number and physical location on the IIS server (typically C:\inetpub\wwwroot\INSIGHT). An SSL certificate can also be added here.

The application is added to a site by selecting the site then clicking the plus button above the Application section.

Sc web site3.jpg

Commit

At the top of the window there is a section for SIMS account details. The details of the SIMS account mentioned in Prerequisites should be entered here. The Scale field is the number of concurrent connections that can be established to the SQL server using that SIMS user. The default, 10, is a good setting for most schools. Increasing this number will open more access points during peak times but will also increase the strain on the SQL server.

There is a PARS link option which must be selected if PARS is going to be used at school. When this option is selected, Insight will also need to be given a URL to access PARS.

Sc application3.jpg

The settings can then be applied to the web server by clicking the Begin button. Once the process has finished running, the server's default web browser will open and attempt to access the Insight website.

Keep Alive service

The Keep Alive service "prods" the web site to keep the application loaded in memory on the web server. To use this feature, click on the Install button, and then, when the service is installed, click on the Start button.

Sc keepalive2.jpg

Test Log-in

On the browser window which was displayed earlier use the username and password, received by email, to login.

  • If the default starting page of Insight does not open it may be because the software referred to in the NOTE at the top of this page has not been installed in the correct order. Fix this as follows:

Go to start -> run and in the Open field box enter %windir%\microsoft.net\framework\v4.0.30319\aspnet_regiis -i

Click Ok (this will re-install the .net software for you)

  • If this is your first log on, you will most likely be taken to a 'No license found' page. This screen will prompt you to retrieve a licence. There are two options:

Method 1 (Preferred option) Click on the ‘here’ link to attempt this. If proxy authentication is required, enter your proxy details into the boxes provided and click the "Update" button. Retry until a licence can be obtained.

Method 2 In extreme circumstances, you can also collect a licence key manually. Click on the 'this' link to collect your licence key (a new window will open); in this new window click on Copy to Clipboard. Back in the Unlicensed - Windows Internet Explorer window paste the key in the box under method 2 and click submit.

  • You can close the browser window once you can log in completely.


Insight Configuration

Preferences

Preferences are set once, and are used identically by all users of the system. The preferences you will want to concentrate on at this stage are:

'Email settings' Insight should be able to email out from your network in order to, for example, remind users of their passwords. To do this it needs information about your SMTP server. You can also set up an address specifically to ‘collect’ replies to outgoing emails. Some SMTP servers will require that the Reply to address of an outgoing email actually exists, so you may have to create either and address or an alias to handle this. Some SMTP servers will need a username and password to authorise before they will send outgoing email and you can enter these here too. Similarly, other complicated arrangements can be handled by modifying the Port used, and whether the server requires encryption. Please go to Preferences -> Email to add these settings.

'Proxy' You may have had to modify your proxy details in order to download a licence key. If so the settings are displayed here. If not, you should enter any necessary proxy details. Entering DEFAULT for the proxy name will use standard Internet Options from Windows. Otherwise, enter the proxy in the form 10.0.0.1:8090. If your proxy requires authentication, enter the username and password below, and if the authentication is based on domain credentials, enter this here also. Please go to Preferences -> Proxy to add these settings.

'SMS' Insight can use the TextAnywhere SMS gateway or teachers2parents API to send text messages. If you already have an account with TextAnywhere or teachers2parents, enter the authorisation information here. The two providers offer different services. If you are using TextAnywhere and want replies to outgoing SMS messages to be collected by an email address, enter that address in the ‘Email address for SMS replies’ field. You will also be able to specify a fixed originator string. Please go to Preferences -> SMS to add these settings.

  • Once Insight has been fully installed, it will next need to be configured.

Configuring External Route

When you are happy that your users and preferences are configured, you will need to ensure that a route is configured from outside to the Insight IIS server. Although the details will change according to the environment your Insight server operates in, the principle remains the same. Your school will have a static IP address that it presents to the Internet, and you will have to forward requests to this address, on the port chosen for Insight when installing, to the internal network address of the Insight server on the same port, for example:

Assuming your schools external IP address is 62.63.64.65, and your Insight server's internal network address is 10.0.0.20, and that Insight is installed to listen on TCP port 1590, the forwarding rule would be 62.63.64.65:1590 is to be forwarded to 10.0.0.20:1234.

This rule would normally be configured either at the school's main incoming router, or you may have to put in a change request to your LA to have this facility enabled - again, details will vary according to circumstance.

When you know the external address you will be using, you can either embed this in your schools main web site as a link, or distribute it as is.

As a final note, it is strongly suggested that you install and use an SSL certificate on the Insight server, and also that it is not a self-signed certificate, unless you will be also using the server as a root certificate authenticator.

Although not authoritative, the example below may help you to with this stage.

Network topology.jpg