Installation

Installation Notes

If you have a support agreement, the new ACM version can be downloaded by using the monthly login credentials received from your sales representative. For more details, please contact us today.

• Components from ACM 9 cannot be combined with components from ACM 7 nor ACM 8.

• Components from ACM 8 cannot be combined with components from ACM 7.

• If upgrading from a 32-bit version of ACM 7 to a 64-bit version of ACM 8 or ACM 9, ACM 7 must be first uninstalled.

• If upgrading from a Beta version of the 64-bit ACM 7, it must first be uninstalled.

• For installations that make use of Safe Mode operation, ACM 8 and ACM 9 use the "Microsoft ACE OLEDB 12.0" database driver for the safe mode database. ACM 9.2 and later versions can use the "Microsoft ACE OLEDB 12.0" version or the "Microsoft ACE OLEDB 16.0" version. The ACE OLEDB 16.0 driver can be downloaded from Microsoft.

• It is always a good idea to back up your ACM configuration database before updating. This update makes changes to the database and if for some reason the update is not successful, a backup may be required to revert to your previous version of ACM. Instructions are found in the ACM User Guide under Maintenance –> Backing up the SQL Database.

Determining the ACM Services User Account

When choosing the account the ACM Services will run under, keep the following in mind:

• The account used to run ACM services must be part of the local administrator group.
• All services must run under the same account.
• If a specific account is desired, enter the Username or Domain\Username, along with the password.
• If “Windows Authentication” is selected for the database connection, the account must be able to access the database.
• If “SQL Server Authentication” is selected for the database connection, the user in the connection string must have access to the database.  The account for the service does not need access.

Using the ACM Installer

Note:  The following steps may require Administrator privileges.

To install Communication Manager:

1. Run the CommunicationManager.exe installer. If any prerequisites are missing from your computer, the installer will notify you and install any components it can.  
2. Click Next to continue. If all prerequisites have been met, the "AutoSol Setup" window will appear.
3. Click Next to continue. The "End User Software License Agreement" window will appear.
4. Select I accept the terms of the License Agreement before proceeding with the installation.
5. Click Next. The "Select features to install" window will appear.
6. Select the installation type:
   1. Server and Client Installs both the ACM client and server.
   2. Server Only Installs the ACM server components only.
   3. Client Only Installs the ACM configuration client only.
7. Enter the desired installation path for the client and/or server components.

8. Click Next. The shared program data data path window will appear. Note: These selections will vary based on the version of ACM.

   1. Enter the desired path for server data folders. The default is typically: C:\ProgramData\AutoSol\Communication Manager\7
   2. Enter the desired path for the Logger program files: The default path is typically: C:\Program Files\Common Files\AutoSol
   3. Enter the desired path for the Logger data files: The default path is typically: C:\ProgramData\AutoSol\Logger
   4. Enter the desired path for the Bridge program files: The default path is typically: C:\Program Files\Common Files\AutoSol\Bridge

   5. Enter the desired path for the Bridge data files: The default path is typically: C:\ProgramData\AutoSol\Bridge

      Additional Information

      • For first time installs, simply select the desired folders to indicate the locations for program and data files.
      • If you are updating ACM, additional manual changes may be required before re-starting the ACM services. After the installation is complete, follow these steps:
        • Open ACM Monitor and click on the Properties tab along the left side.
        • Find the "Server" property group and examine the "Data Path" property.
        • If you've assigned a non-default location for "Data Path", you may want to change it if it is related to where the "System Files" are located.

      More Information

      • ACM has a "System Files" property and a "Data Path" property. Both are configurable in ACM Monitor.
        • "System Files" consist of report files, wizard files, SQL script files, etc. that are installed by ACM. The default location for these files is typically "C:\ProgramData\AutoSol\Communication Manager\7". The "System Files" property is assigned during the installation process when selecting a folder for the "ACM system data folder".
        • "Data Files" are generally created by actions performed while ACM is running. Examples include 'tag' files read from ControlLogix devices and Flow-X devices. The default location for these files is typically a folder named "DataFiles" under the "System Files" path.
      • When you assign the system data folder location for ACM during the installation, it sets the folder for the "System Files" but does not affect the location of the files in the "Data Path" that are created during ACM operation.
      • To change the location of the "Data Path", use ACM Monitor to set a new desired folder.

9. Click Next. The "Choose a user account" window will appear. Select which account to use for installing ACM and running services. The default account will be the Local System account. The SQL Server security method used must be considered when selecting the services account. If you will be using Windows Authentication for SQL Server security, select a Windows user account for the ACM services and provide access to SQL Server for the selected account.

   Note

   The account used to run ACM services must be part of the local administrator group.

   All services must run under the same account.

   If a specific account is desired, enter the Username or Domain\Username, along with the password.

   If “Windows Authentication” is selected for the database connection, the account must be able to access the database.

   If “SQL Server Authentication” is selected for the database connection, the user in the connection string must have access to the database.  The account for the service does not need access.

10. Click Next. The "Ready to update your system" window will appear.

    Note

    If the Connect window appears with a message indicating that the server was not found or not accessible instead of the Ready to update your system window, take the necessary steps to connect to the SQL server database.

11. Click Create a shortcut on the desktop, if desired.

12. Click Next to start the installation. The Communication Manager Setup is complete window will appear after a successful installation.

    Note

    The following message may appear: This application requires Microsoft SQL Server 2016 or later, or Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Express or later. A version of SQL Server was not found on this machine. You will need to install Microsoft SQL Server on this machine or connect to Microsoft SQL Server on another machine before you can configure Communication Manager.

13. Select Run ACM Monitor to create a database if you want to proceed to the ACM Monitor > Database section.  Instructions for creating a new database are found here: Create/Update Database Wizard.

    Note

    The Run ACM Monitor to create a database box will not appear if a database connection has already been configured on this computer from a previous ACM installation.

14. Click Finish.

Uninstalling ACM

Uninstalling ACM Using Windows Add/Remove Programs

To uninstall ACM using Windows Add/Remove Programs:
1. Close any open ACM applications.
2. Open the ACM Monitor. The "AutoSol Communication Manager Monitor" window appears.
3. Click Stop all services. The "Stop Server" window appears.
4. Click on Yes in the Stop Server window. The "Service Control" window appears.
5. Close the "AutoSol Communication Manager Monitor" window.
6. Right-click on the asiServerMonitor icon in the taskbar and click Exit. The asiServerMonitor icon closes.
7. Open the Control Panel > Uninstall a program.
8. Select Communication Manager.
9. Right-click and select Uninstall. The "AutoSol Maintenance" window appears.
10. Select Uninstall Communication Manager.
11. Click Next. The "AutoSol Setup" window appears.
12. Click Finish.