Before installing Remote User Manager (RUM), read the Security Considerations page. You may also find the Frequently Asked Questions page helpful.

RUM may be installed on a stand-alone machine, a member server, or a domain controller. If installed on a Primary or Backup Domain Controller (PDC or BDC), then RUM will control the domain user database. If installed on any other type of machine, RUM will control that machine's user database.

Note: It is also possible to set RUM to access a user database from another machine (i.e. to access the domain user database on a Domain Controller from a IIS member server). See the How to use RUM with an alternate user database page for instructions.

You must be logged on using an account with administrative privileges to install, upgrade, configure, or remove RUM.

RUM consists of two main components -- a web application (ISAPI DLL) that is installed and configured as a virtual directory under IIS, and an NT system service installed in the system directory (usually c:\winnt\system32).

Before Starting:

1. Log on to your IIS web server as administrator.
2. Use MMC to disable the Default Web Site if not already disabled. See the Default Web Site security discussion for details on this step.
3. Create a new web site if the Default Web Site was the only site you had, or if you want a separate web site for RUM to use.
4. If you are installing on a Domain Controller, choose or create an administrative account for the service portion of RUM to use (default). It is also possible to set the service to run using a non-administrative account. See the How to use RUM with a non-admin service account page for more information.

Installing the System Service


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After you download the zip file, unzip the contents to a temporary directory on your machine (or a shared network directory), then double-click setup.exe and click the Install button.

Remote User Manager Setup Screen

If RUM is already installed, the Install button will not be present. Instead, Setup will present an Upgrade button. If older versions of any of the distribution files already exist on your machine, the program will upgrade them automatically when you select Upgrade. In some cases, it may be necessary for you to reboot your machine to complete installation or an upgrade. If so, you will be prompted to restart.

If you are installing RUM onto a Domain Controller, Setup will next prompt you to supply an account for the service to use as its security context. By default, RUM requires this account be a member of both the Administrators and Domain Admins user groups.

Note: It is possible to set the service to run using an alternate account. See the How to use RUM with a non-admin service account page for instructions.

Enter the desired account's username and password. Setup will attempt to verify the account's right to Log on as a Service, and grant this right if not already present. If the service cannot grant the right, it will continue installation and you will have to grant the right manually afterward. See more info on granting system rights.


System service security context setup (BDCs only)

Installing the Web Application


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After the service portion has been installed, Setup will prompt you to configure the RUM Virtual Directory. The correct IIS permissions and NTFS permissions for the application are set automatically during setup program, including access rights and application execution.

If you ever modify these permissions, and later find you wish to reset the permissions to their defaults, you may click the IIS Settings button on the RUM Control Panel applet, and the files and system permissions will be restored to their defaults.


IIS Configuration Setup Screen

On this screen, you must select an existing IIS Web Site for the application to be configured. Use the Add to Web Site: drop-down list to select the desired web site. NOTICE: Do not select the Default Web Site. See the Default Web Site for reasons.

The Virtual Directory Name: box allows you to specify a name for the virtual directory that RUM will use. This is the name that will show up in the IIS MMC and is used in constructing the URL that is used to access the application. In most cases, you can simply accept the default suggestion.

Note: If you want users to access RUM using SSL, you must select an existing website that has HTTPS defined and running. Users can then use https:// instead of http:// to access RUM.

The Physical Directory: option allows you to specify the actual location of the files on your server. Note, if you wish to change this in the future, you must run IIS Configuration from the RUM Control Panel applet to make the change, otherwise the application will not run from the new location.

The Access URL: displays the URL that your users will use to run the application.

Authentication Method: Choose the authentication method you want to use (Basic, NT Challenge/Response, or Both).


System Service Installation Notification

When setup is complete, you'll see the service notification and you are ready to configure the control panel applet to manage your Helpers (See Managing Helpers).

Other Configuration Options

Log Settings - In the Miscellanous Settings section of the Control Panel Applet, you may specify the logging levels of the service. If enabled, RUM will write Success and Error messages to the Event Viewer whenever a helper changes the permissions of another user, or when someone unauthorized attempts to access the application.

IIS Settings Clicking this button will bring up the IIS Configuration Screen to allow you to make changes to the web application portion of RUM. This is the same screen that is presented during Setup (see the detailed descriptions in the Installation section above).


IIS Configuration Screen

HTML Settings This screen allows you to customize the appearance of the web application. You may use standard HTML entries to modify the indicated items, as well as change the default color scheme.


Remote User Manager Control Panel Applet

Removal

Run setup.exe again, and click the Remove button on the setup dialog. The Remove button will only be enabled if setup determines that the service is already installed. Note: Running the command-line option GWRUM /remove or using Control Panel's Add/Remove Programs requires a reboot. Running Setup and selecting Remove does not.

Upgrading

To upgrade to a new version, download and unzip the new version to a temporary directory. Double-click the new setup.exe and click the Upgrade button. The Upgrade button will only be visible if setup determines that an older version of the service is already installed. Otherwise, only the Install and Remove buttons will be shown.

Registering

When you purchase Remote User Manager you will be given instructions on how to download a registration key. Please print and keep this information. The registration key is date-sensitive. If you ever need to re-install the software, you will need to re-install the Evaluation version and download a current registration key to return the software to Registered status.

To upgrade your Evaluation Version to a Registered Version, pull up the Control Panel applet and click the Register button. Enter the registration key in the indicated field. The software will immediately recognize your registration.

Command-line Options

Although not generally needed, you may specify the following command-line options when running setup.exe or gwrum.exe. You may use a dash or a forward slash before the option. Slashes are shown below for clarity. Options may also be specified by just the first letter.

gwrum.exe /version or setup.exe /version -- displays the program's version and copyright information.
gwrum.exe /remove or setup.exe /remove-- forces removal.
setup.exe /install -- forces installation.
setup.exe /upgrade -- upgrade to newer version without removing and reinstalling.