Tips For a Successful Installation of LMS on Windows

Joe Clarke · ‎05-04-2010

When installing CiscoWorks LAN Management Solution (LMS) on Windows, there are a few pre-installtion steps you can take to ensure a successful installation. By following these steps, problems such as missing Resource Manager Essentials (RME) device packages, missing processes or databases, and files with incorrect permissions can be avoided.

Set the per-user and global TEMP and TMP environment variables to short values (e.g. C:\WINDOWS\TEMP)
Disable all anti-virus software *
Disable Windows Data Execution Protection (DEP) *
Login to the server as a local Adminitrator

* NOTES: Anti-virus can be re-enabled after installation, but you should EXCLUDE the NMSROOT directory as long as LMS is installed on the server. DEP should remain off (that is, set to only protect critical Windows system files) as long as LMS is installed on the server.

When performing the installation, make sure these two steps are followed:

Install from original, locally attached media
NEVER abort the installation after the installer says not to

It may not always be possible to install from original, locally attached media (especially on VMs). But you should avoid from installing over the network as hiccups can cause bad installations. If you are installing on a virtual machine, convert the DVD to an ISO image, then mount that within the VM.

If you have to abort the installation after the installer says not to do so, you will need to uninstall, and reinstall LMS. It may also be necessary to forcibly clean the system before doing the reinstallation. For this step, contact TAC, and request the clean_system.exe tool.

Michel Hegeraat · ‎05-21-2010

I usually put TEMP and TMP to c:\t. It is better to reverse this back to the "%USERPROFILE%\Local Settings\Temp" afterwards I think.

In case of problems installing the OPSXML stuff if may be required to get the server out of the windows domain. When this happens all you see is 2 informational eventlogs in the application.log from the MsiInstaller right after the start of the installation and an error at the end of the ciscoworks install because OPSXML cant find its components.

Other good ideas

keep the CSCOpx directory and everything below, on an exclude list for the virus scanner.
make sure the company policyserver leaves the casuser account untouched.
turn LMS DVD in an ISO file and load this localy on the VMware host, connect CD to ISO on VM.

Cheers,

Michel

Joe Clarke · ‎05-23-2010

The bug with the OpsXML installation is still under investigation. If you are seeing this, please open a TAC service request so that the Arcana developers can take a look. I filed CSCte84743 to track the issue, and have a slightly better workaround that removing a server from a domain. However, the underlying cause really needs to be identified.

I have incorporated your other suggestions into the document.

Michel Hegeraat · ‎05-24-2010

It was the TAC that said to take the server out of the domain, because it is "not supported".I told TAC I couldn't find that feature in the product info , but they did try to help out.

We ran the install as local admin and later even as domain admin.

The CWA_Install.log from that installation gives some codes that according to the TAC means we cancelled the install.TAC agreed there is however no GUI to cancel the CWA install.The almost 900k log gives no clues.

I have 3 working days to install LMS, configure it according to customer requirements and write an As built, so there is little time for troubleshooting as my customer does want to pay for extra days.

To bad there are no additional debug options for the install we could use.

Cheers,

Michel

aserov · ‎01-24-2011

Hello,

After installing CiscoWorks LMS 3.2 we encountered issue: after adding new equipment following message appears:"Error

Error in communicating with DCR Server.

DCR Server may be down. Please start the DCR Server and then refresh the page."

But in the process list appears "DCRServer Running normally".

OS: windows server 2003 64-bit

Joe Clarke · ‎01-24-2011

Assuming pdshow shows that DCRServer is running normally, then chances are this is CSCtd07049. A patch is available from the TAC.

ajc · ‎06-06-2013

I was wondering if Cisco has a FORMAL documentation to install LMS 4.2 and then go into 4.2.3 (latest version). I cannot understand why all this TRY and ERROR process for just install an application. In fact, I am stuck trying ALL the different options ("recipes") without success. Simply unbelievable.