System Requirements

ELM Enterprise Manager™ 7.0

Copyright © 2018 TNT Software, Inc.
All rights reserved – Updated 01/01/2018 8:54 AM

Introduction

This product-based ReadMe is a simplified presentation of ELM system requirements and should provide enough details for most ELM installations.  Please check the web-based version of this document for recent updates and additional details:

 http://www.tntsoftware.com/elmsupport/supplementaldownloads.aspx

Contents

•System Requirements

•Security

•Notes

•Windows

•Restrictions on Evaluation Version

•Getting ELM Support

•Contact Us

System Requirements

ELM Enterprise Manager 7.0 Components
 

All ELM Enterprise Manager 7.0 product lines include the following software components:

•ELM Server - Centralized data collection, notification, and reporting.

•ELM Console - Main UI for configuring ELM and viewing collected data.

•ELM Advisor - Client application that receives events and runs in Windows Notification area.

•ELM Service Agent - Collects and sends data to the ELM Server.

•ELM Dashboard - Displays performance metrics and Dashboard notifications.

•SQL LocalDB - Provides a built in database server.

Minimum Hardware Requirements
4 GB of RAM, Dual Core CPU, 2GB min free disk space (recommended 10GB)

•ELM Server        100MB free disk

•Service Agent        50MB free disk

•Virtual Agent        10MB memory for each, on ELM Server computer

•SQL LocalDB        Varies

Note:  These disk requirements do not include space for databases, collected .evt(x) files, or ELM Service Agent cache files.

Operating System
Any of the ELM Enterprise Manager 7.0 components can be installed on any of the operating systems below.

•Windows Server 2012,2012R2 and 2016 Standard *

•Windows 8 Pro / Enterprise *

•Windows Server 2008 R2 Standard / Enterprise

•Windows 7 Enterprise / Ultimate

•Windows Server 2008 Standard / Enterprise

•Windows Vista Business / Enterprise / Ultimate

•Windows Server 2003 Standard / Enterprise

*Links to OS hardware requirements are maintained on the TNT Software Supplemental Download page: http://www.tntsoftware.com/elmsupport/supplementaldownloads.aspx

Database
The ELM Server requires two databases, primary and failover, and can authenticate using Windows Integrated (recommended) or SQL Authentication.  The databases can be on the ELM Server or available via the local network, and can be a combination of any of the following:

•Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Enterprise, Standard

•Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Enterprise, Standard and Express

•Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Enterprise, Standard and Express

•Microsoft SQL LocalDB (Installed with ELM Server)

•Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Enterprise, Standard and Express

•Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Enterprise, Standard and Express

Required Software
A typical ELM installation includes one ELM Server, one or two ELM Consoles, and one ELM Agent for each monitored system.  We recommend monitoring Windows systems with ELM Service Agents, and non-Windows systems with ELM IP Virtual Agents.

ELM Server and ELM Console - A common scenario is to install the ELM Server and ELM Console on a Windows Server in a datacenter or server room, and then use the ELM Console via remote desktop.  A variation on this is to install the ELM Console on an administrator's workstation and connect it to the ELM Server in the datacenter.

Links to these downloads are maintained on the TNT Software Supplemental Download page: http://www.tntsoftware.com/elmsupport/supplementaldownloads.aspx

Service Agent - Service Agents run as a service on the monitored Windows computer and connect to the ELM Server when they need to transfer data.  They can be installed by "pushing" them from the ELM Console, or by running the ELM setup package on the monitored computer. Some Monitor Items require the Remote Registry Service be started.

Virtual Agent and IP Virtual Agent - These two types of Agents run as part of the ELM Server service, so they have the same software requirements as the ELM Server.  Allow 10MB of memory for every Virtual Agent.  Virtual Agents require the Remote Registry Service be started on monitored systems.

Conditionally Required Software
The ELM Enterprise Manager products have a wide variety of features and capabilities.  Depending on your needs, certain software components are required for an ELM feature to function.  Please see the TNT Software web site for more details.

 http://www.tntsoftware.com/elmsupport/supplementaldownloads.aspx

Security
For proper functioning, the ELM installation requires solid name resolution and specific rights to gather data, notify administrators, and present results.  Below are security requirements for different ELM components.

ELM Server - The ELM Server service account requires Administrative rights on the ELM Server and on all systems monitored by a Virtual Agent.  Disabling User Account Control (UAC) is not required on Windows Vista, Windows Server 2008, or newer versions of Windows.

ELM Console and ELM Advisor - During install, the Authenticated Users group will be given DCOM Allow Access permissions in My Computer on the computer running the ELM Console.  COM+ server applications will also be created under the DCOM Config branch of Component Services.

Service Agent - If a service account is used by a Service Agent, then it requires local Administrative rights on the monitored system.

Notes
Miscellaneous notes for ELM components.

ELM Server - ELM Server 7.0 will recognize the /3GB switch if used with a Windows 32-bit operating system.

ELM Console & ELM Advisor - The ELM Console and ELM Advisor can be installed separately during setup.  There is a separate component selection during setup to install the ELM Advisor.

Service Agent - If NetBIOS over TCP is disabled, a Service Agent installed by the .exe package can be registered to the ELM Server from the Agent by using the fully-qualified domain name or the TCP/IP address of the ELM Server computer in the Agent Register Server Wizard.

Virtual Agent - Virtual Agents run in the ELM Server process and use RPC to gather data from Windows systems. They are not visible as separate processes.

IP Virtual Agent - An IP Virtual Agent can be assigned to any system or device on your network that has an IP address.  IP Virtual Agents run in the ELM Server process, and do not appear as separate processes.

Database Design

ELM Manager 7 uses the same database design as ELM Manager 6.7.  In general, the ELM 7 database uses a star schema, smaller datatypes, and event message parametrization to reduce the amount of storage required.  It also uses SQL partitioned views and partition elimination to improve performance of large databases.

Restrictions on Evaluation Version
The evaluation version is fully-functional in all aspects except for the following:

Importing configuration data - ELM includes an export/import feature that enables you to export any object from ELM to an XML file that can be imported into any activated ELM Server.  In evaluation mode, you can export these objects, but the import function is disabled.

Auto-adding Agents - The Auto-add Agents feature is also disabled.  In a licensed installation of ELM, devices can send Syslog messages or SNMP traps to the ELM Server computer, and ELM will automatically create an IP Virtual Agent for the device if no Agent is already present.  This feature is disabled in evaluation mode; in order for ELM to receive Syslog or SNMP traffic, you must manually create an Agent for each source of traffic.

If you need to evaluate the functionality of either of these features, please contact the TNT Software Sales Department (Sales@TNTSoftware.com) to obtain a temporary NFR (Not for Resale) license key.

Getting ELM Support
The TNT Software Product Support Group support hours are:
Monday - Friday, 8:00am to 4:00pm (Pacific Time)

Contact Us

TNT Software, Inc.          Telephone:        360-546-0878
2001 Main Street                  FAX:        360-546-5017
Vancouver, WA 98660
 
General:        Info@TNTSoftware.com
Sales   :        Sales@TNTSoftware.com
Support:        Support@TNTSoftware.com

Appendix I – Elevated Privileges

The ELM application performs administrative tasks, and therefore requires elevated privileges for all services.  These are:

•ELM Enterprise Manager Server service

•ELM Report Scheduler service TNT Agent service

Most ELM UI components do not require elevated privileges.  These are:

•ELM Console (MMC Snap-in)

•ELM Advisor (notification area tool)

Elevated privileges are required for some UI components. These are:

•ELM Control Panel applet

•ELM Server service property tabs