Basic configuration before use

1 Sign in on the server

Make sure you are logged in as a user who is a member of your administrator AD-Group, SWC_ADMIN_GROUP.

Configure from the server All configuration must be done from the server. The site must be accessed via localhost in the browser.

2 Connect the database

When you open the site for the first time, you see the connection screen for the SoftwareCentral database. Enter the server name and the database name. If you use a named instance, enter the instance name after the server name, as servername\instancename.

Connection screen for the SoftwareCentral database with the fields for the server name, the database name, the trusted connection, the SQL user and the SQL password, and the Save and Test Connection buttons. — Earlier version of the connection screen. Enter the **SoftwareCentral Database Server Name** and **SoftwareCentral Database Name**. In the current version the **Trusted Connection** row is hidden, and it has an **Ignore certificate trust issues** option.

Before saving, the connection can be tested by clicking the Test Connection button.

3 Choose the administrator group

In the next step, select the correct domain and the administrator group, SWC_ADMIN_GROUP. Click Save.

Choose role step with the message asking for an administrator AD group, a domain drop-down, a group drop-down and a Save button. The domain name is masked. — Earlier version of the domain and group step. The text and the **Save** button are the same. The domain name in this picture is masked.

You can only save the administrator group if you are a member of it.

4 Enter the license

The next window is the license page. Here you enter the credentials given to you by your SoftwareCentral provider.

SoftwareCentral license page with the fields Installation Title, Username and Password, the help icon beside the title, and the Submit button. — Enter the **Installation Title**, the **Username** and the **Password**, then click **Submit**. The username in this picture is masked.

You must give the installation a title, e.g.: 2016 Production Server.

Press Submit. The button submits your license information and restarts the website.

If the server hosting your SoftwareCentral installation does not have access to the internet, you will instead need an offline license key.

The offline license key will be bound to your installation. To achieve this, a unique identifier from your installation is needed.

Offline view of the SoftwareCentral license page with the text about the offline license key, a box for the identifier and the License Key field. The identifier is masked. — Earlier version of the offline view. The current version shows **Your installation does not appear to be online.** Click the icon with **Show more...** to see the identifier to give to your SoftwareCentral provider. The **License Key** box then appears below it. The identifier in this picture is masked.

This identifier is generated for your installation when you get prompted for the license key. Provide this identifier to your SoftwareCentral provider, and an offline license key will be generated. Enter that key in the License Key box.

5 Server configuration

SoftwareCentral will now open. In the lower right corner a lot of notifications will appear with various error messages. Ignore those messages, they appear because SoftwareCentral isn't configured yet.

In the top bar, click Settings.

Top bar of SoftwareCentral with the Settings item selected. — The **Settings** item in the top bar. The Settings page opens from it.

Open General Settings, and select Server Configuration.

You must enter the Central Site Code, the SCCM Server, the SCCM Database Server Name and the SCCM Database Name.

You must also enter the Application Pool Username and the Application Pool Password. The account must be the one you set in IIS for the application pool; see Configure the application pool.

Some of these fields may already be filled in if you entered the information during the installation.

The SCCM Server Username and SCCM Server Password are optional. Leave them empty to use the application pool user. This account cannot be the same as the application pool user.

Click Save Settings.

Settings page with Server Configuration open: Central Site Code, SCCM Server, the SCCM username and password, SCCM Database Server Name, SCCM Database Name, the SCCM SQL fields, the reporting settings, the proxy settings, the Administrator Group, Application Pool Username and Password, and Application Base URL. The values are masked. — The **Server Configuration** panel of **General Settings**. The values in this picture are masked. Click **Save Settings** at the bottom right when you are done.

View more about each setting here.

6 SCCM shares

Open SCCM and select Shares. You should now see a package share for each site. Fill them in and click Save Settings again.

SCCM Shares page with three rows per site: Package Share, Remote Control Tool Share Path and OS Share, each with a Site and a share path box. The values are masked. — The **Shares** page. Each share is set per site: **Package Share (Required for 'Create Package/Application')**, **Remote Control Tool Share Path (CmRcViewer.exe)** and **OS Share (required for 'Import Image')**. The values in this picture are masked.

7 SCCM folders and collections

SoftwareCentral needs some defined collections and folders on the SCCM server.

A user folder named Software Distribution. This folder will hold collections used for deploying applications to users.

A device folder named Software Distribution. This folder will hold collections used for deploying applications to devices, and a device folder named Software Distribution Packages. This folder will hold collections used for deploying packages to devices.

In SoftwareCentral, open SCCM Folders and Collections, and press Create default structure. This creates the folders described above in SCCM.

SCCM Folders and Collections page with the buttons Create default structure, Create collection and Create folder, and the SCCM root collection panel open with All Systems selected. The other picker panels are collapsed. — The **SCCM Folders and Collections** page. The buttons **Create default structure**, **Create collection** and **Create folder** are on the left. Each picker below is one panel.

Set the SCCM root collection

This is the root collection. In early versions this was known as the COLLROOT collection. Select All Systems in the SCCM root collection panel.

Set the SCCM root user collection

Open the SCCM root user collection panel and select All Users.

SCCM root user collection panel open with All Users selected. — The **SCCM root user collection** panel with **All Users** selected.

Set the package root folder

Open the Package root folder panel and select the folder created earlier called Software Distribution Packages.

Package root folder panel open with the folder Software Distribution Packages selected. — The **Package root folder** panel with **Software Distribution Packages** selected.

Set the application distribution folders

Open the Application Distribution Devices panel. This is the folder where application install and uninstall device collections will be created. Select the folder Software Distribution created before.

Application Distribution Devices panel open with the folder Software Distribution selected. — The **Application Distribution Devices** panel with **Software Distribution** selected.

Open the Application Distribution Users panel. This is the folder where application install and uninstall user collections will be created. Select the folder Software Distribution created before.

Application Distribution Users panel open with the folder Software Distribution selected. — The **Application Distribution Users** panel with **Software Distribution** selected.

Now click Save.

The basic settings needed for SoftwareCentral to run have now been completed.

8 Best practice

Configure from the server, through localhost. The site is set up from the server itself, as the note in section 1 says. Do not open the first-time pages from another computer.
Keep the application pool account the same in IIS and in Settings. Enter the same name under Application Pool Username as the account in IIS. See Configure the application pool.
Check the folders after Create default structure. The button creates the folders in SCCM. Open the pickers afterwards and check that the folders are there before you select them.
Turn off Engineering Mode for a production install. While it is on, SoftwareCentral shows Debug Mode Enabled in the top right corner and writes more detail to the log.

9 Troubleshooting

Symptom	Cause	What to do
"* Required" beside Central Site Code, SCCM Server, SCCM Database Server Name, SCCM Database Name, Application Pool Username or Application Base URL.	The field is empty when you click Save Settings.	Enter the value and save again. The page is not saved while a required field is empty.
"Wrong Password" beside Application Pool Password.	The password does not match the application pool account.	Enter the password of the account and save again. See Configure the application pool.
A list of error notifications in the lower right corner after the first sign-in.	SoftwareCentral is not configured yet.	Ignore them while you work through this page.