Laserfiche Rio 8.

1 Frequently
Asked Questions

White Paper

October 2009
Table of Contents

Rio and License Manager Basics..............................................................................3 

What’s the difference between a Rio installation and a Team or United
installation? ...........................................................................................................3 
What’s the difference between a Rio installation and an Avante installation? ....3 
What is the master license?..................................................................................4 
What are named user licenses? ...........................................................................4 
What is an activation key, and where can I find mine? .........................................5 
What is an application instance? When do I need to register one? .....................5 
What is a public portal license? ............................................................................5 
Should I back up License Manager? .....................................................................5 
Can License Manager be run on a virtual machine? ............................................6 
How many Server instances and repositories can I install? ................................6 
Can I update my master license when I license new products or features? .......6 
Can I move my License Manager installation to another computer? ..................6 
If I have multiple servers in different locations, will they work with Rio? ...........6 
How can administrators log in to test workflows and security configurations? .7 
Named User and Device Licensing...........................................................................8 
What types of named user licenses are available? ..............................................8 
Can users be added to and removed from the named user list? .........................8 
Can I license a machine, such as a scanning kiosk, rather than licensing
individual users? ...................................................................................................9 
How do I log in to the repository for the first time to set up the domain users
associated with my named users?........................................................................9 
Do I need to generate a new Server license after adding new named users? ....9 
How do Laserfiche named users work? .............................................................10 
Do profiles in Web Access work with named user licenses? .............................10 
What LDAP schemas does Rio support? ............................................................10 

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 When using a device license on a computer, can different users with different
security settings access the repository on that same computer? .....................10 
When using a device license, does Audit Trail track the user information or just
the machine? .......................................................................................................10 
If a user with a named user license allocated to them connects to a repository
on a computer with a device license allocated to it, which license will be used?
.............................................................................................................................11 
Do I need to restart the Laserfiche Server service when adding or removing
named users? ......................................................................................................11 
Can a single user with a named user license allocated to them use that license
to connect to multiple repositories and Servers? ..............................................11 
WebLink and Public Portal Licensing.....................................................................11 
How do I set up WebLink public access? ............................................................11 
For purposes of determining the number of public portal licenses needed,
does a dual-core CPU count as one processor or two? .....................................12 
Can one public portal license be used for two repositories on two different
Servers? ..............................................................................................................12 
Can one public portal license serve more than one repository on the same
Server? ................................................................................................................12 

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This paper addresses the most common questions asked about Laserfiche Rio,
and is split into three sections: Rio and License Manager Basics, Named User
and Device Licensing, and WebLink and Public Portal Licensing. Note that
this paper does not include detailed directions for setting up and configuring
License Manager; for that information, see the Laserfiche Rio Deployment
Guide. For information on upgrading to Laserfiche Rio from Laserfiche Team
or United, see Upgrading to Laserfiche Rio.
This guide is specific to Laserfiche Rio. For information on Laserfiche Avante,
see the Laserfiche Avante Deployment Guide and the Laserfiche Avante
Frequently Asked Questions.

Rio and License Manager Basics

What’s the difference between a Rio installation and a Team or
United installation?
Laserfiche Rio is a Laserfiche product package and licensing system that gives
you flexibility for deploying larger installations. Rio differs from Team and
United in several important ways. First, Rio uses named user licensing rather
than concurrent licensing. In named user licensing, a license is reserved for
each user, ensuring that all members of your organization can log in whenever
they need to. (For more information, see “What are named user licenses?”)
Second, Rio allows you to generate your own licenses from a master licenses,
and use the License Manager application to allocate and manage your licenses
and installed products, which allows you to extend your Laserfiche suite
quickly and easily. Finally, Rio allows unlimited Server installations and
repositories, which gives you flexibility when using Laserfiche for different
projects, departments, or sites.
Laserfiche Rio also comes packaged with several additional products: Web
Access (including the SharePoint integration), Workflow, and Advanced
Audit Trail, as well as Snapshot and the E-mail Plug-in.

What’s the difference between a Rio installation and an Avante

installation?
Like Laserfiche Rio, Laserfiche Avante uses named user licensing. However,
Avante does not use License Manager or a master license, and does not
include unlimited Server installations and repositories. In essence, Laserfiche
Avante uses the same licensing scheme as Laserfiche Rio, but is intended for
smaller sites. It does not include Web Access or Audit Trail.

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What is the master license?
The Laserfiche License Manager’s master license determines the features of
your system, including the number of users, server features, and which
applications you are authorized to install. It grants the ability of a site
administrator to create licenses for specific applications (e.g., Laserfiche
Client or Workflow) and for named users or devices; the master license
contains information for all of your licensed products and features, as well as
all of your named user and public portal license information.
When you first use License Manager, you will be prompted to add a master
license or obtain one automatically from Laserfiche using an activation key. If
you license new products or features, or add more named users, you can
update your master license within License Manager, allowing you to generate
licenses for those products whenever you need them.

What are named user licenses?

Laserfiche Rio licensing is based on the number of people who will be using
the system—which makes it possible to calculate the cost of most systems by
doing little more than counting employees. Each license is assigned to an
individual member of your organization who will always have a connection
to Laserfiche reserved, and each applies to all servers and other Laserfiche
products that make up your Laserfiche installation. Both full-featured
(read/write) and read-only named user licenses are available.
Named users licenses can be allocated to Windows accounts, to LDAP
accounts (such as Novell eDirectory users), or to Laserfiche repository
accounts. We recommend using Windows or LDAP accounts for your named
users, since it simplifies administration (the users only need to be added or
removed once), and since it allows the same user to log in to multiple
repositories with a single license. Laserfiche named users are recommended
for people who are not in your Windows or LDAP directory (such as
temporary workers or contractors), or people who will frequently need to
access the repository when not on the domain.
In Laserfiche Rio, each Laserfiche Server receives the initial list of named
users and any updates from the License Manager server. The License Manager
server will update each Rio component Laserfiche server twice a day or, if the
Rio component server is subscribed to notifications from the License Manager
server, as updates are made to the list of named users in the License Manager
administration console.
For more information, see “Named User and Device Licensing,” below.

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What is an activation key, and where can I find mine?
Your activation key allows you to retrieve your master license from Laserfiche
over the Internet, which in turn allows you to generate individual product
licenses. You can obtain your activation key on the Laserfiche Support Site.
See Laserfiche Activation and Licensing for more information.

What is an application instance? When do I need to register one?

An activation instance is a specific installation of a product registered to a
particular computer. For all licensed products except the Client and
Snapshot, you will need to register an application instance before you can
generate a license and install the product. For instance, if you want to install
two Laserfiche Servers and one Workflow instance on three different
computers, you would need to perform three registrations and provide the
computer information for each of the three computers.
The Laserfiche Client and Snapshot do not require individual registrations.
You can generate one generic license and use it to install those products. In
addition, products that do not require separate licenses—such as PhotoDocs
or Scanning—do not need to be registered.

What is a public portal license?

Public portal licenses allow users to access your repository through WebLink
even if they do not have individual named user licenses allocated to them.
These connections are retrieval-only, meaning they can be used to view
documents but not edit them.
Public portal licenses allow unlimited connections, but large numbers of
connections will eventually affect server performance. You must have one
public portal license for each CPU on the Laserfiche Server computer that
WebLink will connect to, or you must have a dual-processor or
multiprocessor license for a Server computer with two or more processors.
Public Portal Licenses may only be used with WebLink; they are not available
for other applications.
For more information, see “WebLink and Public Portal Licensing,” below.

Should I back up License Manager?

It is a good idea to back up your License Manager database frequently. While
it does not contain any repository information, your License Manager
database does contain all of your product instance registrations and your
allocated licenses; if you lose this information, you will need to reconfigure
all of those settings. You can easily back up your database using the backup
command in License Manager itself.
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Can License Manager be run on a virtual machine?
Yes, License Manager can be installed and run on a virtual machine. If you are
using notifications (which are recommended, and enabled by default), you
should ensure that the virtual machine can access your Laserfiche Server
computers. The virtual machine must also be able to access the Internet for
activation.

How many Server instances and repositories can I install?

Laserfiche Rio allows unlimited Server instances and repositories; you can
install as many Servers as you want, and have up to 15 repositories per
Server. Note, however, that each Server should have its own dedicated
computer to avoid resource competition and performance issues, and that
increasing the number of repositories on a single Server may result in
performance issues, especially if those repositories are large or in constant
use.

Can I update my master license when I license new products or

features?
Yes. You can automatically update your master license by re-activating your
master license. New products or features that you have licensed will be added
to your License Manager database and will be available for registration and
allocation at that time.

Can I move my License Manager installation to another computer?

Yes. To move License Manager to another computer, you will need to detach
your license database or uninstall License Manager on the original computer,
and then install and register License Manager on the new computer and
reattach your license database.

If I have multiple servers in different locations, will they work with

Rio?
Rio is designed to support multiple servers at your installation, as long as they
can contact the Laserfiche License Manager server twice a day to maintain
and synchronize with the Windows Active Directory list. If the machine
hosting a component of Rio software, specifically the Laserfiche Server,
cannot connect to the License Manager server, connection will be attempted
for three more days. If the two servers still can’t communicate, the Laserfiche
Server will stop functioning normally, and users will be unable to access their
Laserfiche products, though the Laserfiche Server can be started for an hour at
a time, to allow users brief access to their data.
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Note that, in order to use notifications to automatically synchronize your
Laserfiche Servers with License Manager, they must be able to remain in
contact with the License Manager server.

How can administrators log in to test workflows and security

configurations?
If an administrator wants to log in as a dedicated, limited-access test user in a
Rio system, they could do so by creating an additional test domain account
and adding it as a named user. However, this would require the testing user to
log out of Windows and then log back in as the test user, and would use an
additional named user license for as long as that account is used. There are
three alternate mechanisms to work around this issue.
First, if you have a license available, you could assign the license to a named
device. You could then create a test Laserfiche trustee and log in to the
repository on the named device computer to test your configuration.
Second, you could allocate a named user license to a Laserfiche user, and
then log in as that Laserfiche user. This user would only be able to log in to
the repository they were created in. However, you could remove the named
user license from the user and allocate it to a different test user in another
repository if necessary.
Third, you could create a Laserfiche user account (under the Users node in
the Laserfiche Administration Console) and link the administrator’s Windows
account to it. The admin can use this connection to perform the tests. For
example, if you wanted to check the security settings you have applied to the
Human Resources group in your Windows accounts, you could create “Test
User” in Laserfiche, add it to the HR group, link your named account to it,
and log in to test the security settings. This has the significant advantage that
it does not require you to change your named user configuration, even
temporarily.
If you use the third option, you will need to keep two things in mind. First,
you can only link a Windows domain account with one Laserfiche trustee. If
the administrator has already linked their domain account to a different
trustee, they will need to remove that link in order to link their account with a
test user. Second, rights applied to a Laserfiche trustee override rights applied
to a Windows domain user. Therefore, if you link your administrator domain
account with a Laserfiche user that lacks the Manage Trustees privilege,
another user with the Manage Trustees privilege will need to remove that link
to restore the administrator’s full rights.

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Named User and Device Licensing
What types of named user licenses are available?
There are three types of named user licenses: standard named users,
Laserfiche named users, and device licenses. All named users are allocated
from the same license pool. You do not need to purchase device licenses
separately from named user licenses, for instance.
Standard named user licenses—referred to simply as “named users”—are
allocated to Windows domain or LDAP directory accounts, and allow those
users to log in to the repository with a dedicated connection. Standard named
users support up to four concurrent connections, and can be used to connect
to different Servers and repositories. For instance, a single named user could
simultaneously have two Client instances to two different repositories open,
plus a Workflow instance and a Quick Fields session. We recommend that
you use standard named user licenses for most of your organization members.
Laserfiche named users are allocated to Laserfiche users, as opposed to
Windows or LDAP users, and allow those users to log in with a dedicated
connection. They also support up to four concurrent connections, but can
only be used with a single repository. We recommend that you use Laserfiche
named users for users outside your organization who might need access—for
instance, contractors—or for users who will frequently need to use Web
Access when they are not on your domain.
Device licenses are allocated by computer rather than by user. Any user can
log in to your repositories using a device license, even if they have not been
allocated a named user license, but they can only do so when using a
particular computer. For instance, you could set up a scanning kiosk using
device licensing to allow your scanner operators to connect to the repository,
without allocating licenses to each scanner operator. Device licenses support
up to four concurrent connections, and can be used to connect to different
Servers and repositories. We recommend device licensing for situations where
you use a dedicated machine for a particular task, but the task may be carried
out by any of several different users.
For information on public portal licenses, see “WebLink and Public Portal
Licensing,” below.

Can users be added to and removed from the named user list?
Yes. You can add users and devices to the named user list by allocating
named user licenses to them, or free up the license by removing them from
the list.

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Can I license a machine, such as a scanning kiosk, rather than
licensing individual users?
Laserfiche has the ability to grant a license to a particular device, enabling any
Laserfiche user to log in from that device (up to four simultaneous
connections) with no Windows Active Directory account required. This is
helpful if you have a particular task that may be performed by multiple users,
but will always be performed on the same computer—such as a scanning
kiosk. Note that the Laserfiche Server is only able to recognize that hardware
credentials, not a name in the Active Directory, are being communicated to
the Laserfiche Server, which can’t happen over a Web connection. Therefore,
to use a named device, you cannot use Web Access or WebLink.

How do I log in to the repository for the first time to set up the
domain users associated with my named users?
In order for a user to log in to the Laserfiche Avante system, they must have a
named user license allocated to their trustee. However, in order for an
administrator to add a user account to Laserfiche, they have to log in to the
Laserfiche administration console. Thus, it is necessary to be able to connect
to the repository once before you have set up your users in the system.
To get around this issue, Laserfiche Rio allows for a special administrative
connection that is not associated with a named user license. In a brand-new
repository, the only pre-existing user is “admin,” which has the Manage
Trustees privilege, the Set Trustee Privileges privilege, and no password. This
enables you to log in as Admin, create Windows account users, and configure
password and other security settings. In a migrated repository, you can log in
as any user who has either the Manage Trustees or the Set Trustee Privileges
privilege. This administrative connection allows only two connections to
Laserfiche, unlike a normal named user or device connection, which allows
four.

Do I need to generate a new Server license after adding new named

users?
No. If you have notifications enabled, the License Manager server will
automatically contact the Laserfiche Servers and update the named user list.
(Notifications are enabled by default, and are recommended.) If you do not
have notifications enabled, the update will occur when you next restart your
Server service. In neither case do you need to generate a new license.

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How do Laserfiche named users work?
Unlike standard named users, Laserfiche named users are allocated to a
specific Laserfiche user, rather than to a Windows user or an LDAP user. This
allows you to allocate named user licenses to users who are not on your
domain, such as outside contractors. It does, however, have some limitations.
Unlike standard named users, Laserfiche named users are tied to specific
repositories. The user JSMITH in RepositoryOne cannot use his named user
license to log in to RepositoryTwo, because the user JSMITH does not exist in
the second repository. Instead, if he needs to access RepositoryTwo, you will
need to create a user is created in that repository allocate another named user
license to that user. It is therefore recommended that you use standard named
user licenses wherever possible.

Do profiles in Web Access work with named user licenses?

No. Web Access profiles currently require Team or United concurrent user
licenses.

What LDAP schemas does Rio support?

Laserfiche Rio support Microsoft Active Directory, Novell eDirectory, and
RFC 2307 compliant schemas. Other schemas are not supported. No updates
or customizations are necessary beyond the base schemas defined by those
standards.

When using a device license on a computer, can different users with

different security settings access the repository on that same
computer?
Yes. Although the device license is used to allow them to connect, the user
will still log in to the Server using their own repository credentials, and their
settings—including security settings—remain the same.

When using a device license, does Audit Trail track the user
information or just the machine?
Laserfiche Audit Trail will track the user information normally, even if the
user is connecting using a device license. In terms of Audit Trail, a user
connecting with a device license is no different than a user connecting with a
named user license—Audit Trail monitors what account is logged in, not how
it was licensed.

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If a user with a named user license allocated to them connects to a
repository on a computer with a device license allocated to it, which
license will be used?
When a user connects to a repository, the Laserfiche Server first checks to
ensure that they have the appropriate rights to log in to the repository. If they
do, the Server will then check if the computer has a device license. If it does,
the user will connect using the device license and, if so, if the device license
has sessions available. If it does not, only then will the Server check if the
user has an allocated named user license.

Do I need to restart the Laserfiche Server service when adding or

removing named users?
If you have License Manager notifications enabled for the Laserfiche Server,
you do not need to restart the Server to add or remove a user. (Notifications
are recommended, and are enabled by default.) If you have disabled License
Manager notifications, you will need to restart the Laserfiche Server service
after you have added or removed a named user for the change to take effect.

Can a single user with a named user license allocated to them use
that license to connect to multiple repositories and Servers?
If the user is a standard named user—a named user license allocated to a
Windows domain or LDAP directory account—that named user license can be
used to connect to any Server or repository at your installation, assuming the
user has the appropriate repository rights to log in. (Named user licensing
does not override trusted or denied status.) Device licenses can also be used
in this fashion. However, if the named user is a Laserfiche named user, they
will only be able to connect to the repository the Laserfiche trustee was
created in.

WebLink and Public Portal Licensing

How do I set up WebLink public access?
A WebLink public portal license allows unlimited, read-only access. Pricing
and distribution of this license roughly correspond with the amount of load it
might handle by being tied to the number of processors on the Laserfiche
Server machine. You must have as many public portal licenses as you have
CPUs on your Server computer; if you have more than one CPU on that
computer, you should purchase a dual processor or multiprocessor public
portal license.
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Note that you must associate the WebLink public portal license with the
physical machine running the Laserfiche Server, not the physical machine
running the WebLink server. This is because the Laserfiche Server does all the
work of retrieving documents, metadata, security rights, and other
information for the viewer that is WebLink.
• If you have a multi-processor server machine but you only want to use
one processor, you can purchase a license for a single processor and
run the Laserfiche Server on a virtual machine that has been allocated
only one. Obviously, doing so will give you reduced performance over
using the full two-processor server.
• Since WebLink does not use named user licenses, you can still set up
different “views” or access points into the Laserfiche repository for
WebLink users by creating different read-only Laserfiche users (not
Windows accounts) with different security settings and access rights
(e.g., a Human Resources user for a “view” into only the Human
Resources folder and contents).
Important: The number of public portal licenses you have must match the
number of processors on your Laserfiche Server computer. The number of
processors on your WebLink Web server is not relevant.

For purposes of determining the number of public portal licenses

needed, does a dual-core CPU count as one processor or two?
A dual-core CPU counts as only one processor, and does not require a dual
processor or multiprocessor public portal license.

Can one public portal license be used for two repositories on two
different Servers?
No. You must purchase separate public portal licenses for each Laserfiche
Server you will be using with WebLink.

Can one public portal license serve more than one repository on the
same Server?
Yes. A single public portal license (single processor, dual processor or
multiprocessor) can be used to allow access to as many repositories as you
have on a single Server. You only need additional public portal licenses if you
have additional Servers.

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Laserfiche Rio 8.1 Frequently Asked Questions
October 2009

Author: Constance Anderson, Tammy Kaehler

Technical Editor: Justin Pava, Catherine Ramos

Compulink Management Center, Inc.

Global Headquarters
3545 Long Beach Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90807
U.S.A

Phone: +1.562.988.1688
www.laserfiche.com

Laserfiche is a trademark of Compulink Management Center, Inc. Various product and service names references herein
may be trademarks of Compulink Management Center, Inc. All other products and service names mentioned may be
trademarks of their respective owners.

Laserfiche makes every effort to ensure the accuracy of these contents at the time of publication. They are for information
purposes only and Laserfiche makes no warranties, express or implied, as to the information herein.

Copyright © 2009 Laserfiche

All rights reserved

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