FAQ
Installation/Update (15)
The main reason why you cannot install JDisc Discovery on a Linux/Unix operating system is that many protocols that are required to discover Windows computers (such as WMI) are not available on the Unix platform. However, this does not affect the capability of JDisc to properly discover Linux and Unix computers.
Yes, you can. Simply select the “User interface only” option during the installation process. The user interface communicates with the server via RMI (Remote Method Invocation) on a configurable port. Refer to the administration guide for more details on how to configure RMI ports.
No. JDisc Discovery’s installation procedure includes an embedded prostgres database. There is no need to setup a separate database server!
For some reason there are problems with an unregistered vbscript.dll on some Windows systems. This leads to installation error 2738 when the installation procedure tries to run VisualBasic scripts to configure the application. JDisc Discovery makes use of VisualBasic scripts to configure the software.
First, check that the vbscript.dll is not registered:
Make sure that vbscript.dll is not registered in HKEY_CURRENT_USER (HKCU) by checking the following registry key:
HKCUSOFTWAREClassesCLSID{ B54F3741-5B07-11CF-A4B0-00AA004A55E8}.
Remove this key, if it exists in HKEY_CURRENT_USER.
Secondly, re-register DLL vbscript.dll:
- Start a command prompt in Administrator mode (Start/All Programs/Accessories/ right click on Command prompt, select “Run as Administrator”)
- cd %systemroot%system32
- regsvr32 vbscript.dll (you should see a dialog stating that the registration succeeded)
- Try re-installing JDisc Discovery
If you forgot to enable remote database access during the installation phase, then you can change it without reinstalling the software by editing two Postgres installation files:
- In %ProgramData%JDiscJDisc Discoverydbpg_hba.conf:
Add the following line to the “#IPv4 local connections” section:host all all 0.0.0.0/0 md5 - %ProgramData%JDiscJDisc Discoverydbpostgresql.conf:
Replace the line “#listen_addresses = ‘localhost’” by “listen_addresses = ‘*’”.
The ‘*’ indicates that every IP address is entitled to access the database. Replace the * by an IP address in order to limit the access to a particular IP address only.
Finally restart the JDisc Discovery Database server using the service control manager.
There are two aspects to look at:
- What network interface is used to scan the network?
We are using Java libraries that implement protocols such as SNMP, SSH, or Telnet. Some of them might use the “wrong” network interface. In this case, the requests do not reach the target device and thus might cause a poor discovery result.Use the Java property “com.jdisc.discovery.ip” in order to configure the correct network interface. Insert the following parameter into the registry for the value “CustomJVMParameters” within the registry key “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JDisc\JDisc Discovery <x.y>\Inventory Service”:-Dcom.jdisc.discovery.ip=<ip address> - Which network interface is used to connect for the remote clients?
JDisc Discovery uses the RMI protocol internally to transfer information from the client to the server and vica versa.Add the following configuration to the “CustomJVMParameters” value within the “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\JDisc\JDisc Discovery <x.y>Inventory Service” registry key:-Djava.rmi.server.hostname=”<JDisc Discovery Client accessible IP Address>”
This feature is available starting with version 3.2 build 3220.
I would like to upgrade to the latest version. Of course without any data loss. How can I do that?
JDisc frequently updates its software. We distinguish between minor updates with smaller enhancements and bug fixes and major release updates. Our smaller upgrades do not get a new version number, but a new build number. Major upgrades do get a new version number (e.g. 2.9). Our license files are still valid when upgrading to new builds within the same version. However, when you upgrade to a new version (e.g. from version 2.8 to 2.9), then you need a new license file. If you have a support contract, then you’ll get it at no cost by sending your license request file to support@jdisc.com .
1. Installing Upgrades when the current installation has at least 4.0
Version 4.0 comes with an improved setup procedure which is able to backup the database and the license file during the upgrade process. However, we recommend to create an archive prior to start the upgrade process.
- Create a temporay backup folder outside the JDisc installation directory.
- Archive your database:
Select the Administration > Database > Archive Database menu item and archive your database. Make sure to enable the option “include passwords within the archive”. Otherwise, you will need to re-enter them after restoring the database. Store the file in your temporary backup folder. Remember the encryption password. You will need it again when restoring the database. - Archive your license file:
The license file stays valid when upgrading between different build numbers of a single version. Copy the “license.txt” file from your installation directory to your temporary backup folder. - Start the setup.exe from within the download ZIP.
- Follow the instructions.
2. Installing Upgrades when the current installation has version 3.4 or earlier.
In order to install minor upgrades (without a version change), you should perform the following steps:
- Create a temporay backup folder outside the JDisc installation directory.
- Archive your database:
Select the Administration > Database > Archive Database menu item and archive your database. Make sure to enable the option “include passwords within the archive”. Otherwise, you will need to re-enter them after restoring the database. Store the file in your temporary backup folder. Remember the encryption password. You will need it again when restoring the database. - Archive your license file:
The license file stays valid when upgrading between different build numbers of a single version. Copy the “license.txt” file from your installation directory to your temporary backup folder. - Stop all JDisc Discovery services from the service control manager.
- Uninstall the software and all Add-Ons
Uninstall the complete software by uninstalling the add-ons first and then uninstalling the core product. - Even if the uninstallation procedure asks for a reboot, the reboot is not required.
- Install the new version
Install the new version and the add-ons as required. - Restore the license file
Copy the saved license file from step 3 to the installation directory and overwrite the existing license.txt file. - Restart our Discovery Services
Restore the JDisc Discovery service in order to force a reload of the license file. - Check the license status from the Help > License Info dialog.
- Stop the application
Open the User Interface und stop the application via Administration > Stop Application. - Restore the database
Use Administration > Database > Restore Database in order to restore the archived database. - Start the application
Start the application again with Administration > Start application.
3. Upgrading to a new version
An upgrade to a new version requires a new license file. Use the instruction from 1, but skip step 2 and replace step 6 by requesting a new license file and installing it.
JDisc Discovery comes with an embedded database. When installing the software on a client computer, a personal firewall might block the traffic between the discovery and its embedded database. We always recommend to install the software on a server operating system (Windows 2003 Server or above), since client operating sytems are limited regarding the number of network connections.
By default, Product uses the Windows ProgramData directory for storing its database. However, the ProgramData directory is by default on the C: drive which is often used for the operating system only.
Always create an archive of your existing database first before you modify any database files!
Follow the steps below in order to move the database to another location or drive.
- IMPORTANT: Create an archive of your database first!
- Stop all JDisc Discovery services (including the database service) from the services control panel
- Enable Show hidden files in the Windows file explorer
- Navigate to c:ProgramData and copy the JDisc folder to the desired location.
- Finally, we need to configure the database service to use the new location. Open regedit and navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetServicesJDisc Discovery5.0Database. Edit the entry ImagePath and adjust the path behind the -D option. This is the path to the actual database files. It must end with db with possibly trailing backslashes.
- Reboot your server in order to use the new service settings
- Finally, we test whether everything is working fine by renaming the old directory. So just rename c:ProgramDataJDisc to c:ProgramDataJDisc.old.
- Restart the JDisc Discovery services again from the service control panel.
- Try to log-on. If you can logon, then everything works fine and you can finally delete the old database folder c:ProgramDataJDisc.old.
Error Message:
“Windows cannot access the specified device, path, or file. You may not have the appropriate permissions to access the item.”
This error may occur due to security restrictions on your system. Please check the following points to resolve the issue:
- If you are using Windows Defender, open
Windows Security → Virus & threat protection → Protection history
and check for any suspicious or blocked entries that may relate to the setup file.
- Windows ASR (Attack Surface Reduction) rules may prevent the installation. You can temporarily exclude the installation folder using the following PowerShell command:Set-MpPreference -AttackSurfaceReductionOnlyExclusions “C:\Temp”(Replace C:\Temp with the folder where you have extracted the JDisc Discovery ZIP file.)
- Additionally, ensure that the ZIP file containing JDisc Discovery is unblocked before extracting it.
To do this, right-click the ZIP file, select Properties, and if the option Unblock is available, check it and confirm. Then extract the ZIP file and run setup.exe again.
In some cases, a personal firewall prevents the JDisc Discovery server from connecting to the embedded Postgres database.
If you have installed the software but you cannot connect to the server via the user interface for more than 5 minutes, then disable the firewall, uninstall the software, and reboot. Perform a reinstall with the personal firewall turned off.
In any case, we recommend to install the software on a server operating system (Windows 2003 Server or above).
Up to version 3.4
You can install JDisc Discovery on any Windows operating system, starting with Windows XP and above.
Starting with 4.0
Starting with JDisc Discovery 4.0, the product is a 64 bit application which can be installed on 64 bit operating systems only (starting with Windows 2008 or Windows Vista).
Important:
We strongly recommend installing JDisc Discovery on a server operating system since Microsoft has introduced a connection limit on their client operating systems starting with Windows XP SP2! This significantly impacts the discovery process and overall operation of JDisc Discovery.
Up to version 3.4
You can install JDisc Discovery on any Windows operating system, starting with Windows XP and above.
Starting with 4.0
Starting with JDisc Discovery 4.0, the product is a 64 bit application which can be installed on 64 bit operating systems only (starting with Windows 2008 or Windows Vista).
Important:
We strongly recommend installing JDisc Discovery on a server operating system since Microsoft has introduced a connection limit on their client operating systems starting with Windows XP SP2! This significantly impacts the discovery process and overall operation of JDisc Discovery.
The JDisc Discovery user interface makes use of the Java encrypted RMI (Remote Method Invocation).
The port configuration resides in the file <installdir>/configs/Config.xml within the RmiRegistry section:
<RmiRegistry>
<RegistryPort>30470</RegistryPort>
<ServerPort>30471</ServerPort>
<ClientPort>30212</ClientPort>
</RmiRegistry>
IMPORTANT: In builds prior to build 4009, the server port was randomly selected. That made the firewall configuration nearly impossible. We have changed the behaviour in 4009 to use the configured port only!
On the JDisc Discovery server, you need to open the port 30470 and 30471. On the client, you need to open the port 30212.
The following table lists the protocols used by the JDisc Discovery user interface:
The embedded Postgres database server listens by default on Port 25321.
The JDisc Discovery server and the user interface open TCP and UDP connections. Java uses a randomly chosen port between 1023 and 65535. The user interface only uses TCP connections and the JDisc Discovery server also uses UDP (e.g. for the SNMP protocol).Furthermore our JDisc Discovery server communicates locally with the Postgres database server. It uses the same algorithm as described above to open the connection.
The JDisc Discovery user interface makes use of the Java encrypted RMI (Remote Method Invocation).
The port configuration resides in the file <installdir>/configs/Config.xml within the RmiRegistry section:
<RmiRegistry>
<RegistryPort>30470</RegistryPort>
<ServerPort>30471</ServerPort>
<ClientPort>30212</ClientPort>
</RmiRegistry>
IMPORTANT: In builds prior to build 4009, the server port was randomly selected. That made the firewall configuration nearly impossible. We have changed the behaviour in 4009 to use the configured port only!
On the JDisc Discovery server, you need to open the port 30470 and 30471. On the client, you need to open the port 30212.
The following table lists the protocols used by the JDisc Discovery user interface:
| Protocol | Port |
|---|---|
| RMI Registry (server side) | 30470 (TCP) |
| RMI Objects (server side) | 30471 (TCP) |
| RMI Objects (client side) | 30212 (TCP) |
