Network Distributed ACE

[Link] Installation Guide

Rev. 1.07
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© Agilent Technologies Inc, August 2021

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Table of Contents
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................... 3

Additional Notes..................................................................................................................................................................... 3

User Registration is required for ACE installer updates, please use link below: ............................................................................. 3

ACE A.03.11.SR2 ............................................................................................................................................................... 3

Catalog Update from the release of ACE A.03.11 platform ........................................................................................................ 3

System Requirements .............................................................................................................................................................. 4

Hardware: ......................................................................................................................................................................... 4

Supported Operating Systems (OS):....................................................................................................................................... 4

Other OS feature requirements: ............................................................................................................................................ 4

Additional Requirements ............................................................................................................................................... 5
Creating a Groups ........................................................................................................................................................... 5

Initial Installation .................................................................................................................................................................... 6

Downloading ACE from SubscribeNet .................................................................................................................................... 6

User registration for Internet update ...................................................................................................................................... 7

First time ACE installation .................................................................................................................................................... 7

For .ISO installation ....................................................................................................................................................... 7

How to mount ISO image with File Explorer ..................................................................................................................... 7

Mount image with double-click ................................................................................................................................... 7

For .Zip installation: ........................................................................................................................................................ 8
Installing ACE .................................................................................................................................................................. 9

Catalog Update ................................................................................................................................................................ 10

Configuration Tab ............................................................................................................................................................. 11

Features Tab .................................................................................................................................................................... 12

Upgrading ACE software.................................................................................................................................................... 13

Uninstallation and Validation .................................................................................................................................................. 14

Validating/Repairing ACE installation ................................................................................................................................... 14

Uninstalling. ..................................................................................................................................................................... 16

Licensing ............................................................................................................................................................................. 17

Login Registration ............................................................................................................................................................. 17

Licensing for scenarios Agilent Engineers, ASP’s and IDO Engineers ......................................................................................... 17
Additional Information. .................................................................................................................................................... 19

Adding additional users to a shared ACE drive ...................................................................................................................... 19

ACE Software Qualification ................................................................................................................................................ 20

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Introduction
The scope of this document is to provide instruction on how to install/upgrade and uninstall Network Distributed ACE within a networked
environment:

Supported Network environment:

• Peer-to-Peer (P2P).
• Citrix.
• Remote Desktop Services (RDS/Terminal Services).

Additional Setup document is required for Citrix and RDS configuration. This document is for the general setup for Network Distributed
ACE and the Peer-to-Peer.

The Citrix and Remote Desktop Services version can only support hardware qualifications, software qualification cannot be supported
with this type of installation.

Additional Notes
User Registration is required for ACE installer updates, please use link below:
[Link]

ACE A.03.11.SR2
The following two installer options are available on SubscribeNet:

• [Link] – ISO image of the ACE A.03.11.SR2 installer

• [Link] – ZIP version of the ACE A.03.11.SR2 installer

Catalog Update from the release of ACE A.03.11 platform

Please note that ace will now update the installer from its own server, this update will be to the installer and not the ace platform. Please
make sure you update the platform for the changes to take place. If the installing NDA for the first time please use the updated installer to
do the initial installation if no internet connection is available.

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System Requirements

Hardware:
Description Minimum Requirements

CPU Quad Core 2.0 GHz Intel or AMD x86 based or higher

Ram 8 GB Ram or higher

100 GB space or higher

Hard Disk Format: NTFS

* Drive can either be Mechanical or SSD

Supported Operating Systems (OS):

OS (32/64 Bit) Supported Language

English US
Japanese
Windows 10 Enterprise/Pro Build 1703 and Higher Chinese
Spanish

English US
Japanese
Windows Server 2016
Chinese
Spanish

English US
Japanese
Windows Server 2019
Chinese
Spanish

Other OS feature requirements:

Features Required

.Net Framework 4.7.2 or higher

Ports 11121-11141
Firewall Requirements
Internet Access or Update:443

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Additional Requirements

• All users that require access to ACE will require their own reset key.
• Minimum NT privileges for running ACE for qualifications: Power Users.
• For Citrix and Remote Desktop Installation and Setup, the shared ACE folder must be left active.
• ACE shared folder can be five Character long an include the symbol $ at the end.

Creating a Groups
This section we will look at creating a local group which is required for the shared drive even if the installation is a Citrix or Remote
Desktop Services (RDS) installation, this step is required before carrying out the ACE installation.

1. Log into the OS as an administrator.

2. Either search for or right click on the start button and select “Computer Management”.
3. In the new windows opens select the “Local Users and Groups”.
4. This section will expend underneath and click on the Groups folder.
5. In the right panel right click in one of the spaces and select the “New Group” from within the menu.
6. A new form will appear, give the group a name in the “Group Name” field for example ACE_Eng. In the “Description” field put
information what this group is used for. For example: This group is used for the ACE shared folder access.
7. The click the Add button and search for users or groups either local or domain that you wish to add as members.

Please note that if you wish to add domain controlled users, it is still required to add the domain group to the newly created local group
as the ACE installer cannot see the domain users or groups.

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Initial Installation
Downloading ACE from SubscribeNet
The ACE software can be downloaded through the SubscribeNet website :

Web Link: [Link]

When you reach the web page login with your username and password:

1. In the Login ID enter your registered email address.

2. Enter your password in the password field.
3. Click on the Login button.

In the Electronic Software and License Delivery, click on the link Agilent LSCA, in the product list page select the Compliance Services Link
and then click on the link CrossLab compliance Services

Select the ACE version either order the media or download the software.

On release of this document please download either the .ZIP or .ISO, this is the base installer and will require updating to the latest
version before transferring onto the customer system.

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User registration for Internet update
1. Please make sure that you are registered at the link below as you will not be able to carry out the update:

[Link]

A browser window will be shown asking you for your email address, please use the email that is used for ACE qualifications as
your login.

First time ACE installation

We are now ready to install the ACE software. There are two options to install ACE, either from the .ISO image or from the .ZIP version. If
you do not have the WinZip application, you will need to use the .ISO image to load ACE.

For .ISO installation:

How to mount ISO image with File Explorer

On Windows 10, you can access the content of an image in at least three different ways using File explorer.
You can double-click the file, you can use the content menu option, or the option available in the ribbon menu.

Mount image with double-click

To quickly mount an ISO file on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open File Explorer.

2. Browse to the folder with the ISO image.
3. Double-click the .iso file to mount it

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 4. Copy the content to a local folder on the USB/Workstation

5. Double click [Link]

Once you complete these steps, the ISO file will open like any other folder, allowing you to access and extract
the contents as necessary.

For .Zip installation:

1. When unzipping ACE download from SubscribeNet, you should use the Windows 10 Explorer to unzip a file as follows:
a. Copy the zip file to a location on your hard disk:

b. From Explorer: Right click on the file, Open with Windows Explorer

c. At the top of the screen click on Extract all to a location you choose.
2. Once extracted, navigate to AceDVD folder.

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 3. From within this folder double click on the [Link]

Installing ACE
1. When you start the Windows will ask you “Do you want to allow this app from an unknown publisher to make changes to your
device?”. Click on the Yes button.

2. After a short while a new screen will appear asking “Please select your preferred language”, at this point you are allowed to
select:
• English (United States)- Default Selection.
• Spanish (Spain)
• Japanese (Japan)
• Chinese (Simplified)

3. Once you select the language click on the OK button.

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Catalog Update
4. When the installer is started you will be in the Configurations Tab. But before carrying out the installation you should make sure
that you update the ACE installer catalog, to do this you will need to select the “Catalog Update” Tab.

i. The version of ACE Application and the timestamp of the build.

ii. Update from the Cloud with a selectable download region for several sites across the world to help with download
speeds.

5. Before starting the update make sure that you have an internet connection as the installer will go through a 443 port (secure)
for updates, to access the updates you will click on the Check for Updates you will be asked for your email and password:

Click on the OK button, the installer will then check update site and update any protocol or platform components where required. Once
complete, re-run the update installer again to make sure that there are no more additional updates need to be download. This might take
several updates to get to the latest version of the installer. The installer will let you know when you are up to date.

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Configuration Tab
6. Next, move to the Configuration screen.

(a) Select the “…” (Ellipsis) and browsing to the drive you want. By default, this will be the drive you started the installation program and
ACE3 folder. Once you have chosen your installation path, select the type of installation you would like:

(b) Select Network Distributed ACE - Multiuser access version of ACE to run from a Server/PC through a network share or Remote
desktop or Citrix environment.

(c) From the Share Group dropdown field Select the Local Group that you created earlier (see Page 5).

(d) In the Share Name field enter the agreed name for the Share with the customer (Max 5 character). Please note that to Hide the share
on the network a ‘$’ will be required at the end of the share name limiting this to four characters.

(e) In the Secure Session location, this folder should not be placed in the same location as the ACE installation, as this contains all the log
files and session files for the qualification that have been carried out. And as a part of data integrity it should not be able to be
accessed by all users.

(f) The Secure EQR Result storage is where all the EQRs are stored as encrypted files.

(g) The Lock ACE installation check box locks the ACE3 or Installation folder (if different), so no one can delete the contents from within
this location.

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Features Tab
Here in the features tab you can select what can be installed which includes:

• Additional Language Packs.

• And Technique protocols.
11. Select all Technique protocols and platform update or install.

12. Once you have selected your configuration click on the installation button on the bottom righthand corner.
13. On clicking on the Install button, you will then be taken to Installation Actions window, here you must select SVT and Self
Qualification as a minimum to run during the installation.

14. Click on the OK button and the installation will begin.

15. Once it has completed you will see a Install complete Window, to close this click on the OK button.

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Upgrading ACE software
Before starting the upgrade of the ACE platform or Protocols

*If upgrading the customers PC/server without internet connection the updated version of the installer will have to replace the original
installer to carry out the Upgrade on NDA.

1. Make sure that the installation software is up to date as shown in page 9 of this document.

2. After the update is finished check the install location is correct on the Configuration tab, go to the Features tab and select what
you want to be updated (Platform and Protocols).

Click on the install button in the bottom righthand corner.

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Uninstallation and Validation

Validating/Repairing ACE installation

1. Open the original ACE installation application as shown on page 6 of this document.
2. In the ACE Installation application in the bottom righthand corner there will be a Validation button.

3. If the validation finds a problems, it will report the issues in a small splash screen.
4. Click on the OK to start the repair.

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 5. Once complete it will show a similar window below, stating that the “Repair of installed features is complete”
6. Click on the OK Button to close this.

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Uninstalling.
1. Open the original ACE installation application as shown on page 6 of this document.
2. On the bottom Lefthand corner click on the “Uninstall” button

3. You will then be asked if you are sure click on the Yes button if you want to proceed.

4. A progress screen will then be displayed showing the Current Operation is “Removing Files”

5. When complete a new splash screen will report that the “The uninstall was successful”

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Licensing
The overview for license shows three different models depending on what kind of engineer you are:

1. FSE inside Agilent domain: At ACE installation the user is granted unlimited access. Access is valid for 90 days.

2. FSE outside Agilent domain/ASP: Upon creating the first session a window will open with a session code, the window
will also include a link to the license server and a QR code. Assuming internet access is available the user can use the
link to connect to the license server to access the unlock code. If internet access is not available the user can use a
smartphone to scan the QR code which will automatically connect to the license server for the unlock code. The unlock
code will provide unlimited access for 90 days.

3. IDO and Partner Edition (PE): Paying customers like IDO’s and PE customers must purchase credits prior to delivery.
The number of credits required will be dependent on the number of services/techniques to be delivered.
Login Registration
To gain access to the license you must register to the below link:

[Link]

Please make sure to use your [Link] or [Link] account when making this request.

Licensing for scenarios Agilent Engineers, ASP’s and IDO Engineers

For the Engineer/Users of ACE

Scenario 1.

Just like in ACE 2.X if ACE if a Field Service Engineer (FSE) starts ACE within the Agilent Domain then the user will be granted a 90 Day
license, this would be used with Portable ACE (USB).

Scenario 2.

Once connected to the server it should automatically show the session code, upon verifying that the session code match, click on the
“Unlock” key and an unlock code will be generated. If connected via PC simply Copy/Paste the unlock code generated by the server to
the ACE unlock window, if using a smart phone manually transcribe the unlock code to the ACE window.

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Scenario 3

One element of ACE3 licensing that adds convenience for IDO and PA users is that credits can be refunded automatically.
In our previous example the IDO company engineer is delivering a software IQ/OQ and creates a session, however,
something happens and the delivery cannot be completed. If the session is deleted a refund window will appear that will include both the
session code and a refund code. By clicking on the link or using a smart phone and QR code to access the License server, the credits will
be refunded and re-allocated to the IDO company pool.

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Additional Information.
Adding additional users to a shared ACE drive
Once you have an a initial user configured you can add additional user through the login Graphical User Interface (GUI) :-

1. Navigate to the ACE Bin folder and start the [Link] .

2. Click on the Add User

3. Enter the information below:

o email address
o Password
o confirm password
o Reset Key

You can obtain the Reset Key through the email to ace_reset_key@[Link] in the Subject Field enter ACE Reset Key.

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ACE Software Qualification
The Software Verification tool should run automatically at time of installation but to run the application again, simply follow
these steps to rerun the ACE IQ:

• Click on the circle in the top left hand corner

• Select the File.

• Invoke SV .
• This will then generate the SV report.

The ACE Operation Qualification is a simple process to complete:

• Click on the circle in the top left hand corner .

• Select the File.

• Then Self qualification .

• A new Window will appear show the protocols that are installed.
• Click on the Qualify button and wait for the test to finish.
• When the test has finished a icon next to the protocol will show if it has passed or failed.

Protocol has failed Self qualification

Protocol has passed Self qualification

To re-run either qualification, simply follow the process illustrated above. We recommend that you re-do both whenever an update to
either the ACE Core or the ACE Protocol Packs are made.

Once the ACE qualification have completed certificates will be stored in the File Store location in the attachments section. These can be
added to the customer qualification documentation.

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 © Agilent Technologies, 2021
Released August 2021.

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