Installing and Configuring the GUI

The GUI gets installed with the Server using XCOPY of the Server folder from the installation media.

For backward compatibility and for client setups, we provide an MSI installation for the GUI. The GUI reads the global appsettings.json file referenced by the OCTOSAM_CONFIGURATION_FOLDER environment variable. For client deployment scenarios, you need to provide your copy of appsettings.json and install it with the software into the application folder.

License Import

Install your license immediately after configuring the database connection. Do not try to modify the provided license.xml as this will most likely invalidate the encrypted license hash.

You may not install the same license into multiple active databases in parallel. Contact Octosoft if you have specific needs for the setup of multiple databases, for example, if you use OctoSAM Inventory in a Windows version migration or company merger scenario.

Repository - query and reports definitions

By default, OctoSAM Inventory stores query and report definitions in its central database. The definitions are delivered in the zip archive OctoSAM_Repository.zip. This file has to be imported into the database via the GUI (Setup –> Import Repository).

Use recommended folder for installations

If you use the recommended structure and extract a new product .zip file within D:\OctoSAM\Install\Delivery, the OctoSAM GUI will automatically find the newest repository to import.

Custom reports

OctoSAM Inventory uses Telerik Reporting components for its reports.

Octosoft professional support can assist you with designing custom reports for your specific needs. You can also design your own reports and integrate them into OctoSAM Inventory. More information about Telerik Reports is available on their website http://www.telerik.com.

Warning

The OctoSAM Inventory database schema - while fully and openly documented – is internal to OctoSAM Inventory and may change with newer versions of the software. Be prepared to adjust your custom reports with new releases of OctoSAM Inventory.

Custom queries

OctoSAM Inventory uses a simple template engine for query definition. See OctoSAM Inventory Query Developer’s Guide for more information. Octosoft professional support is available to write custom queries for your specific needs. A one-day training for designing custom queries can also be arranged upon request.

Warning

The OctoSAM Inventory query engine is internal to OctoSAM Inventory and may change with newer versions of the software. Be prepared to adjust your custom queries with new releases of OctoSAM Inventory.

Repository queries and reports directory trees for the OctoSAM GUI

In addition to the central database, Query and Report definitions can be in a directory structure referenced through the appsettings.json settings. See the provided sample appsettings.json file.

Info

Most queries and reports are delivered with the software and loaded into the central database. There is no need to setup these parameters unless you have custom reports and queries.

Settings for queries and reports can be configured with multiple root directories for the queries and reports structure. Structures are merged with the central definitions in the database into the queries and reports tree in the GUI. Reports and queries with the same relative path hide definitions read earlier. This allows you to customize OctoSAM Inventory queries without actually modifying the files that were installed together with OctoSAM Inventory.

You can use file system security to restrict access to queries and reports for certain users or groups. File and directory access errors within the reports and queries folder structure are silently ignored.

Warning

Make sure the queries and reports directory trees are read-only for ordinary users. Since these files contain SQL statements, a malicious user could modify them which could lead to security problems if they are later executed in the context of a higher-privileged database login

Info

Loading of queries and reports from the filesystem is not supported in the OctoSAM web interface.

GUI database connections

Unlike the other OctoSAM Inventory components, the GUI interactively prompts the user for database connection information and credentials. We highly recommend using Integrated Windows Security for database access.

Login section in appsettings.json

In case you work with multiple active OctoSAM Inventory databases in parallel, you can define a list of connections in the appsettings.json file. This will populate a list of pre-configured connection settings.

 "Login": {
    "Environments": [
      {
        "Name": "OctoSAM TEST",
        "Description": "OctoSAM test instance",
        "Server": "localhost",
        "Database": "OctoSAMTEST",
        "Login": "octosam",
        "IntegratedSecurity": true,
        "TrustServerCertificate": true
      },
      {
        "Name": "OctoSAM PROD",
        "Description": "OctoSAM production instance",
        "Server": "localhost",
        "Database": "OctoSAM",
        "Login": "octosam",
        "IntegratedSecurity": true
      }
    ]
  }

The login dialog also lets the user enumerate and select existing SQL Server databases.