Installation

Requirements

UA Office Link runs on the following Microsoft Windows operating systems.

  • Windows Server 2012 R2 or later

    When using the SOAP Connector: Windows Server 2012, 2016 and Windows Server version 1709 may require installation of .Net Framework 4.7.2 which is not included in the UA Office Link installers.

    When using Windows Server Core then please see the headless deployment documentation.

  • Windows 10 or later

    When using the SOAP Connector: Windows 10 version 1709 or earlier may require installation of .Net Framework 4.7.2 which is not included in the UA Office Link installers.

  • Earlier operating systems

    Support for earlier operating systems may be available on request. Please contact support@rensen.io.

Installer options

Bundles

The recommended installer for the first installation on Windows 10 or Windows Server with Desktop Experience is the following.

  • Rensen UA Office Link Core Bundle
    This installer contains the UA Office Link core service and application and all required Microsoft runtime dependencies. Desired connectors and other plugins can be installed separately.

Please visit the UA Office Link download page to choose an installer or visit the UA Office Link Download Index.

Individual installer packages

The UA Office Link Service, application, connectors and application plugins are available as individual installer packages. To only install the specific connectors and plugins required, install the core bundle without connectors and plugins or only install the UA Office Link Service and UA Office Link Application, then launch the application to pick other modules to install by selecting the “Help / Add Modules” menu.

../_images/help-add-modules.png

Read more about modules here or see available modules in the UA Office Link Download Index.

Headless Deployment (Server)

Headless Deployment refers to scenarios where UA Office Link Services are installed on a computer separate from the user interface application and app plugins for remote administration. Typically, the operating system that hosts the services is Windows Server Core with client computers running the UA Office Link client application on a desktop operating system like Windows 10. You can also deploy services on Windows Server with Desktop Experience and enable remote administration.

In the headless deployment and remote administration scenario, Internet Information Server (IIS) is used as the frontend API server that communicates with UA Office Link backend services.

To install UA Office Link Services on Windows Server Core, follow these steps.

  1. Ensure that IIS is installed or execute Powershell command
Install-WindowsFeature -Name Web-Server
  1. Ensure that the IIS WebSockets feature is enabled or execute Powershell command
Add-WindowsFeature Web-WebSockets
  1. Install the Microsoft ASP.NET Core Runtime 6.0.x “Windows Hosting Bundle x64” for IIS integration.

Important

If you have installed the Microsoft .NET Core Hosting Bundle before enabling IIS then it will be necessary to ‘repair’ the hosting bundle and a restart of IIS may be required. You can find more details about the the .NET Core Hosting bundle at https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/aspnet/core/host-and-deploy/iis/?view=aspnetcore-6.0#install-the-net-core-hosting-bundle).

  1. Ensure that other Service Prerequisites are installed prior to installing UA Office Link services.
  2. Download wanted MSI Service installer files from the list of service installers.
  3. Download the ‘Rensen.UaOfficeLink.Configure-Remote-Access.ps1’ Powershell script.
  4. Run the “Rensen.UaOfficeLink.Configure-Remote-Access.ps1” Powershell script to install one or more MSI files.

The script may be called in the following form:

.\Rensen.UaOfficeLink.Configure-Remote-Access.ps1 -install <msifiles>
.\Rensen.UaOfficeLink.Configure-Remote-Access.ps1 -uninstall <msifiles>
.\Rensen.UaOfficeLink.Configure-Remote-Access.ps1 -disable
.\Rensen.UaOfficeLink.Configure-Remote-Access.ps1

And it performs the following actions:

  • Stop UA Office Link Services
  • Revoke any previously granted folder permissions for UA Office Link Web Application Pools (if any)
  • Remove any previously configured UA Office Link Web Applications from the IIS Default Web Site (if any)
  • Run MSI installers to install services if requested with the “-install” parameter, or
  • Run MSI installers to uninstall services if requested with the “-uninstall” parameter
  • Add UA Office Link Web Applications to the IIS Default Web Site, unless the “-disable” parameter is present
  • Grant folder permissions for UA Office Link Web Application Pools, unless the “-disable” parameter is present
  • Start UA Office Link Services

Note

A parameter-less call synchronizes the IIS configuration with existing UA Office Link Services. If you have installed service MSI files directly then re-run the script without parameters; however, use of the script for MSI installation and uninstallation is recommended.

Examples

Install multiple services by identifying MSI files using a wildcard character:

.\Rensen.UaOfficeLink.Configure-Remote-Access.ps1 -install *.msi

Install the UA Office Link Core Service:

.\Rensen.UaOfficeLink.Configure-Remote-Access.ps1 -install Rensen.UaOfficeLinkCore.Service_1.0.3809.0.msi

Synchronize the IIS configuration with previously installed services (no parameters):

.\Rensen.UaOfficeLink.Configure-Remote-Access.ps1

Disable remote administration; this removes the Web Applications from IIS:

.\Rensen.UaOfficeLink.Configure-Remote-Access.ps1 -disable

Uninstall multiple services (other services remain available for remote administration):

.\Rensen.UaOfficeLink.Configure-Remote-Access.ps1 -uninstall *.msi

Uninstall the ODBC Connector service (other services remain available for remote administration):

.\Rensen.UaOfficeLink.Configure-Remote-Access.ps1 -uninstall Rensen.UaOfficeLinkConnector.ODBC_1.0.3783.0.msi

The URL that is used to remotely access UA Office Link is shown at the end of a successful configuration run; the URL will take the form:

https://hostname/uaofficelink

Warning

Once configured, UA Office Link clients elsewhere on the network can connect to UA Office Link services, and it is a good idea to enable user access control role to restrict access. You can also manage IIS to restrict access further. Enabling remote administration is recommended for Intranet use only.

Headless Deployment (Client)

The client-only installer is recommended for remote administration of UA Office Link instances elsewhere. This installer contains the core application only and does not install local services or app plugins. Once connected to a remote instance, add any missing app plugins as required. See the remote administration documentation for further details.