Installing iSpring SDK under Windows Server 2003

When you install iSpring SDK, you probably need to configure the system on your server computer. When you run iSpring SDK on a desktop computer everything might be ok, but when you deploy the product under Windows Server 2003 (Win2003) you may see some issues caused by the security restriction of this operating system. You should realize that each process running under Win2003 is associated with a particular user account and this account should have a number of privileges to access files, registry, run processes, etc. By default, some operations you need to run iSpring SDK under Win2003 are forbidden. You should carefully check all possible issues to ensure all required security privileges are provided.

We have prepared the following step-by-step instructions which will guide you through the process of configuring your system.

1. 1

   Try to install the latest release of iSpring SDK on your computer. Sometimes old versions are not compatible with the latest Win2003 service packs or have known issues which are already fixed in the most recent versions. You can check the iSpring version you currently have using the Version property of an iSpring Object or running iSpring CodeBuilder. You can always download the newest releases on the iSpring website.

2. 2

   iSpring requires Microsoft PowerPoint 2003/2007/2010 to be installed on your computer (PowerPoint is not needed on client computers to view generated Flash presentations). All components of PowerPoint and all shared components of Microsoft Office marked on the picture below must be installed as well.

   
3. 3

   You can try to perform the conversion using the command line tool ispringsdk.exe. To use it correctly, please read iSpring SDK Help for detailed information on command line syntax and make sure that the command line options you entered are correct. If the conversion succeeded, your system was set up properly to perform basic interactions with iSpring SDK.

   If you plan to use iSpring SDK within your Web server environment, such as Internet Information Services (IIS) or Apache, you may need to configure security restrictions of your web server to allow iSpring to work properly. In this case, please follow the recommendations below.

4. 4

   Web pages working under Web servers usually run under a user account having minimum privileges for accessing system files and using system components. If you use iSpring SDK within code in your web pages, the mentioned restrictions are applied to iSpring SDK as well.

iSpring SDK connects PowerPoint via OLE Automation. This technology allows one program (iSpring SDK) to control another program (PowerPoint) and read or write its data. The default security restrictions of Win2003 do not allow iSpring SDK to interact with PowerPoint. So, you need to enable PowerPoint Local Activation for the user account that runs iSpring SDK and PowerPoint. This is the same user account that is used to execute web pages code.

The process of Local activation permissions set up on Windows 2003 Server is illustrated below.

You need to determine which user account is used to execute your web pages. Open Internet Information Services Console (Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Internet Information Services). Right click on the Web sites item and choose the Properties option in the popup menu.

Web Sites Properties window will be opened. Go to Directory Security tab and click Edit button on it.

You will see the Authentication Methods window with the User Name of the Win2003 account that is used to run your scripts with iSpring SDK. Please remember (write it down) this User name for further configuration.

Then you should configure DCOM security settings for this user account. Open Component Services management console (Control Panel->Administrative Tools->Component Services)

Choose Component Services->Computers->My Computer->DCOM config option.

Choose Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation from the list of available DCOM components, then right-click on it and choose Properties.

The Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation properties window will now be opened. Go to the Security tab. In the Launch and Activation Permissions field, switch on the Customize and click the Edit button.

You will get the Launch Permission window with a list of groups and users allowed to run Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation object types. Click the Add button to add a new group.

Enter the User Name you remembered into edit box under the Enter the object name to select label. Or click Advanced button.

If you clicked the Advanced button, you will get the Select Users or Groups window. Click the Find Now button to search for your user account.

Choose the User Name you remembered and then click OK.

You will return to the Select Users or Groups window. Click OK button to confirm user account selection.

You will come back to the Launch Permission window with your User Name added. Choose your User Name from the list of users, and enable Local Activation privilege in the Permissions for Internet Guest Account list, then click OK.

Now you have enabled the Local Activation permission for Microsoft PowerPoint Presentation object types for you User account.

In iSpring SDK, you need to enable local activation for 2 more components in a same way. These components are:

• ActiveSWF Local Server
  
• VideoToSwfConverter Local Server
  

File system permissions

iSpring SDK creates temporary files during conversion. By default, these files are created within the current user temporary files folder. For a user account which is used for running web pages, it is usually c:\windows\temp folder. A user account can have some restrictions on maximum file size created in a default temporary folder. In this case, you can specify the temporary files folder for iSpring SDK via -temp command line option or the TemporaryFolder property of an iSpring object and grant it necessary Win2003 privileges for writing in this folder.

If you still need more information to resolve any issues about running iSpring SDK, please contact our Support team at support@ispringsolutions.com and you will get personalized help to solve your problem. Please specify the version of Windows, PowerPoint and iSpring SDK you have in your message.