Before Installing the software

Review the prerequisites

Before starting the installation, review the Plan chapter in this guide and confirm that your system meets all the relevant prerequisites. In particular, review the install planning, computer hardware, operating environment, network connectivity, and licensing requirements. Also review the PME 2023 Install notes, which provide information regarding installation that is specific to the latest version of the software.

Cybersecurity

Review the cybersecurity information. See Cybersecurity for details.

Use an account with administrative privileges to install the software

For installing PME, log on to your Windows system using an account that is a member of the Administrators group.

NOTE: Permissions for the Administrators group can be restricted by system policies which might affect the PME installation. Work with your network administrator to resolve any permissions issues.

warning

potential compromise of System availability, integrity, and confidentiality

Use cybersecurity best practices to help prevent unauthorized access to the software.

Failure to follow these instructions can result in death, serious injury, equipment damage, or permanent loss of data.

Work with facility IT System Administrators to ensure that the system adheres to the site-specific cybersecurity policies.

Create a file share for Engineering clients and Secondary servers

Engineering clients and Secondary servers must be able to access files on the PME application server. This is done through sharing the Power Monitoring Expert product folder on the server. You must set up this file share before installing Engineering clients or Secondary servers.

NOTE: Vista and Designer, on Engineering clients and Secondary servers, use this file share to access diagram files on the application server.

To create a file share for Engineering clients and Secondary servers:

  1. On the PME application server, open File Explorer.
  2. Navigate to the PME product folder ...\Power Monitoring Expert.
  3. Right-click the product folder and select Properties, this opens the Properties window.
  4. In Properties, select the Sharing tab.
  5. On the Sharing tab, select Advanced Sharing.
  6. In Advanced Sharing, add a new share with the following details:
    • Select Share this folder
    • Share name: ION-Ent
    • Comments (Optional): Power Monitoring Expert file share
    • Permissions:
      • Groups or user names: Select the user that will be installing the Engineering client or Secondary server, and the users that will be accessing them. Alternatively, select the Everyone group.

        RECOMMENDATION: Select individual users instead of Everyone. That limits access to specific users and increases cybersecurity.

      • Permissions: Change and Read
  7. Click OK in Advanced Sharing.
  8. Click Apply and the OK in the Properties window.

Windows Integrated Authentication for SQL Server

If you are planning to install PME with Windows Integrated Authentication, then complete the following before starting the install:

NOTE: Windows Integrated Authentication is not supported for PME systems with Secondary Servers.

Standalone architecture

On the PME application server:

  • Add the Windows account for the user who is installing the software to the local Administrator group.
  • Add the Windows account for the install user to the SQL database logins with a sysadmin Server Role.

    NOTE: You can remove this account from the SQL database logins after PME is installed.

  • Add the Windows account that is used by PME to access the databases to the local Administrator group.
  • Set the 'Logon As A Service' privilege for the database access account.
Distributed Database architecture

On the Windows Domain, in the Active Directory:

  • Add an account for the user who is installing PME. This only needs to be a domain user account, not a domain admin account.
  • Add an account that PME will use to access the databases. This only needs to be a domain user account, not a domain admin account.

On the PME application server:

  • Add the account for the install user to the local Administrator group.
  • Add the database access account for PME to the local Administrator group.
  • Set the 'Logon As A Service' privileges for the database access account.

On the database server:

  • Add the account for the install user to the local Administrator group.
  • Add the account for the install user to the SQL database logins with a sysadmin Server Role.

    NOTE: You can remove this account from the SQL database logins after PME is installed.

NOTE: When PME is installed with Windows Integrated Authentication, the Windows account that is used to access the database is also used to run the PME services and the IIS Application Pools.

Update the operating system

Run the Windows Update service to install the latest security patches and hotfixes from Microsoft.

Install troubleshooting

Unsuccessful installation due to invalid account passwords

Problem:

The installation of PME was not successful, after changing the Windows accounts or database accounts passwords to passwords that do not meet the password policies.

Background:

PME uses Windows accounts and database accounts to run its services and access the databases. These accounts are created during the installation of the software. The installer generates default passwords for these accounts. The default passwords are long and complex and most likely comply with your Windows and SQL Server password policies.

The installer also gives you the option to change these default passwords. If you decide to change the passwords, the passwords you are providing must comply with your Windows and SQL Server password policies. The software installer cannot validate the passwords at the time you enter them. If the passwords are not valid, the installation will not be successful.

Solution:

If the installation does not succeed because the passwords do not meet the policies, do the following:

  1. Complete the installation, skipping any unsuccessful steps.
  2. After the installation is complete, run the installer again.

    NOTE: The installer will detect that the software has been installed on this computer, and open in maintenance mode.

  3. Select Reset Accounts.
  4. Follow the wizard and change the passwords for the Windows and database accounts to passwords that meet the password policies. Allow the installer to complete the account reset.
  5. Click Close to close the installer.