Installing or upgrading

The installation program is similar whether you are installing WhatsUp Gold Standard Edition (or WhatsUp Gold Premium Edition) for the first time or upgrading a previous installation. Steps that apply only to a first-time installation, or only to an upgrade, are identified as such. For more information about installing the WhatsUp Gold Central and Remote Sites, see Installing Central and Remote Sites in the application Help.

To install or upgrade WhatsUp Gold:

1. Log in to an Administrator account.
2. Start the installation program:
   • If you purchased a WhatsUp CD-ROM, insert the CD-ROM into the appropriate drive. If it does not run automatically, click Start, select Run, then enter the CD path followed by AutoRun.exe For example: D:\AutoRun.exe
   • If you downloaded WhatsUp Gold Standard Edition or WhatsUp Gold Premium Edition from our Web site, run the downloaded installation application.
3. Read the Welcome screen.

   The Welcome screen recommends that you disable any running antivirus software, estimates how long it takes to install the application, and displays a button that, when clicked, displays the release notes.

   Click Next to continue.

4. Read the license agreement. Select the appropriate option, then click Next.
5. Select the default install directories for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Express, then click Next (For first-time installation only).

   Note: If you want to customize your database setup, you need to first complete the installation, then manually configure your database as described in Alternative database setups in the application Help.

   The application and data files will be installed in default directories. If you want to change the locations, click the browse buttons to find and select a different directory.

   Important: Make sure that you have a large capacity drive selected for data storage. Data files can grow up to the 3 GB MSDE limit.

6. Select the installation directory for the WhatsUp application files. (For new install only.)

   The default path is C:\Program Files\Ipswitch\WhatsUp. We recommend that you use the default path. Some users prefer to put application files on a partition separate from the operating system, which is usually installed on the C: drive, to isolate the application from an operating system crash.

7. Choose whether to backup your current WhatsUp database (for upgrade installation only). We strongly suggest that you do this!
8. Choose how to handle existing Web and Report files. (For upgrade installation only.)

   If you have previously installed WhatsUp Gold, you may already have Web and Report files stored in your installation directory. You can choose to either delete them or back them up during the install. Backup is recommended.

9. If a sound card is installed and it has SAPI-compatible drivers, the install program asks whether you want to install Text to Speech capabilities. If you select No, you can always return and install Text to Speech at a later date.
10. Choose whether to enable the web server during install and enter a port for this installation.

    Note: This dialog will not be displayed during an upgrade if you have already enabled the WhatsUp web server in an older version of WhatsUp.

11. Click Install to install the WhatsUp Gold application files. WhatsUp Gold gives you the option to go back and change options or cancel prior to completing the installation.

    Important: When you use an alternative database setup, you will need to run the database upgrade scripts when installing a new release of WhatsUp Gold. The installation program will warn you if it detects a non-default database. For information on running the upgrade scripts, see Upgrading the database schema in the application Help.

12. Make your selections, then click Finish.

    If you choose to launch now, the next screen asks you to activate the application. For more information, see Activating the WhatsUp Application in the application Help.

After the activation screen, you are introduced to the Discover Devices wizard, which lets you set options on how to discover your network. If you choose to postpone these steps, click Cancel.