Installing/upgrading the Express Client

Note: When starting the Express Administrative Console, you are prompted to run the Evaluation Wizard to install the Express client and perform several tasks to get Express Software Manager and running. This topic describes how to install or upgrade the Express Client outside of the Evaluation Wizard.

In order to inventory and/or meter machines in your network, you will need to install the Express Client on each of them. Although you can run earlier versions of the Express Client (versions 7.0 and above) with version 9.0, it's recommended that you upgrade client machines to version 9.0 when possible.

Whether you are installing the client for the first time or upgrading it, the process is the same and there are three ways you can install or upgrade machines:

Use the Express Administrative Console to discover machines and then install to discovered machines. This is the simplest method and is described next.
Use the Express Administrative Console to specify machines using their IP addresses. Click here for details.
Manually installing the client. Click here for details.

Installing the Express Client from the Administrative Console

To install the Express Client to machines using machine discovery:

Start the Express Administrative Console.
Go the Machines panel.
From the Tools menu, click Discover Machines and Users. You are prompted to select either Domain or Active Directory discovery.
When the discovery process is complete, press F5 to refresh the Machines panel.
Select the machine(s) on which you want to install the client.
Right-click your selection and select Install/Update Express Client from the context-sensitive menu. The Install/Update Express Client dialog box opens.
Select which Express access point these clients should report to and enter the appropriate login credentials for installing the client.
If you are upgrading to a new version of the Express Client, mark the Overwrite existing installations check box. Otherwise, keep this check box clear.
Click Install.

Installing the Express Client using machine IP addresses

To install the Express Client to machines by their IP addresses:

Start Express Administrative Console from the system administrator machine.
From the Machine menu, point to Install/Update Express Client, and then click either Single Machine or Multiple IP Addresses.

If you are installing to a single machine, specify the machine's name or IP address
If you are installing to multiple machines, specify an IP subnet and then click Display to get a list of machines from which to select.

Specify which access point the selected machine(s) will report to, and enter the appropriate credentials.
If you are upgrading to a new version of the Express Client, mark the Overwrite existing installations check box. Otherwise, keep this check box clear.
Click Install.

Installing the Express Client using a command

There may be cases where you do not want to install the Express Client to machines from the Administrative Console (for example, if you have machines that are not connected to the network).

Note: You must have local administrative rights in order to install or uninstall the Express Client. Typically, a domain administrator has local administrator rights on all computers.

To install the client manually (where no previous version of the client is installed), you'll need to have the Express Client MSI file available. The Express software manager client.msi file is available on the machine on which the Express Server is installed. By default, it is in the following folder:

\Program Files\Express Metrix\Express Server\Distribution\ClientInstallPackage

Once you find this file, do the following:

Copy the ClientInstallPackage folder to a shared location where the Setup program will run.
Run the Express software manager client.msi file as an administrator.
Enter the Access Point URL to which the client will report. The format for the Access Point URL is:

http://<ap-machine>/expresssoftwaremanagerap/clientservices.asmx

Note: <ap-machine> is where the Access Point is installed.

Select Complete and install the client.

Tip: You can also create a login script and run that script from each client machine. If you have multiple access points, create a login script for each one and then run the appropriate script on each client machine that will report to each access point. The online help that accompanies the Administrative Console includes an example login script you can use to create your own login script.