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Documentation & User Guides | Fotoware

Deployment of FotoStation for Mac

You can deploy FotoStation on Mac using several different tools. Some of the deployment-related operations must be scripted because they require administrative privileges.

What's in the FotoStation app bundle?

FotoStation for Mac can be downloaded from the Downloads section of the Fotoware Customer Portal. It comes as a disk image (.dmg) that can be mounted on the desktop and contains a single file - the FotoStation app, a bundle containing all the components required to run FotoStation.

When the application is launched after being copied to the hard drive, it unpacks all required components and places them in different folders within the Mac OS Library folder. It creates a configuration for the individual user in the user's Library folder. For more information on where the files are stored, see Where are configuration files stored in Mac? 

If FotoStation has not previously been installed on the Mac, the FLEXnet licensing service folder needs to have special permissions set, as does the folder where the trusted storage files are created. This requires user elevation with a password. However, by scripting the creation of these folders and placing the necessary files in them during deployment, a user with limited access in Mac OS can double-click the FotoStation app, and everything will run smoothly without user input. This also means that subsequent updates to FotoStation can be rolled out by simply replacing the FotoStation bundle in the Applications folder.

Which actions require deployment scripting?

The FLEXnet licensing service has to be manually put in the right place, and special permissions must be set using chmod. The file can be found in the FotoStation bundle: Right-click it and choose Show Package Contents. Open the Contents folder and then open the SharedSupport folder.

Component File in bundle Action that must be scripted

FLEXnet Licensing Service

FNPLicensingService

  • Store in /Library/Application Support/FLEXnet Publisher/Service/11.18.3 (for Fotostation version 8.0.893 and later)

  • Store in /Library/Application Support/FLEXnet Publisher/Service/11.1.6 (for FotoStation versions prior to 8.0.893)

  • Change file permissions using chmod:

​chmod 4755 FNPLicensingService

 

Trusted storage folder

 

Make sure the folder /Library/Preferences/FLEXnet Publisher exists and has write permissions for all users:

chmod 777 /Library/Preferences/FLEXnet Publisher

FotoStation default configuration folder

 

The default configuration folder has to exist in this location:

Library/Application Support/Fotoware/FotoStation/

Create these folders as necessary. 

Product activation

 

See Scripting product activation.

Scripting product activation

When deployed, large-scale FotoStation can be activated in two ways:

  • regular online activation using the Fotoware license tool (part of the FotoStation app bundle)
  • configuring FotoStation to get its activation from a license server

 

Online activation

We recommend using the fwLicenseTool, available in the Downloads section of the Fotoware Customer Portal, to perform scripted activation. This tool (unlike the bundled activation wizard) does not require a UI to run; it runs completely from the terminal.

The available options that can be used with this activation tool are documented alongside the installer in the Fotoware Customer Portal.

Activation can be accomplished by scripting the command to run on the client after placing the FotoStation package in the Applications folder.

Activation using a license server

FotoStation can also be configured to get its activation from a license server. To script this, you need to create a file that contains a pointer to the Fotoware license server and place it in the home folder of every Mac user of FotoStation.

For more information about the file and its syntax, see Activating a Fotoware license with a license server.

Presetting FotoStation to load a centrally stored configuration

The DefaultConfiguration.zip file is located in the SharedSupport folder in the application bundle. This is the configuration that FotoStation automatically unzips to /Library/Application Support/Fotoware/FotoStation when it starts, assuming no configuration is already present.

Copy this zip file to your local desktop and unzip it to find the locationData.xml file, which manages the location from where FotoStation loads its configuration.

Open it in a plain text editor (for example, TextEdit in Mac OS) to change the configuration type and location.

locationData.xml - contents and legend:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<FotoWare_Settings>
    <Group name="ConfigLocation">
        <String name="locationType">FwpLogon</String>
        <Int name="showOffline">0</Int>
        <String name="logonPath"></String>
        <String name="serverUrl">IMSERVER</String>
    </Group>
</FotoWare_Settings>
locationData.xml properties and values
Property Possible values Explanation
locationType User, FwpLogon

User specifies that each FotoStation user has an individual configuration stored in their user profile. In this mode, leave the logonPath and serverUrl properties empty.

FwpLogon specifies that FotoStation retrieves its configuration from an Index Manager server via the FWP protocol. This value must be coupled with a valid serverURL value.

serverURL IP address or host name of
the Index Manager server where
the configurations are stored
Examples: 127.0.0.1, IMSERVER, www.mydomain.com
showOffline 0, 1

0 means that users cannot choose to work offline, they are required to log on to the server

1 means that users can choose the Work Offline option in the login dialog.
Users must first save a configuration for offline use.

For an explanation of legacy properties for logon to a configuration folder stored on an SMB share, see below.

Legacy locationData.xml contents and legend

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<FotoWare_Settings>
    <Group name="ConfigLocation">
        <String name="locationType">Logon</String>
        <Int name="showOffline">0</Int>
        <String name="logonPath">\\MYSERVER\Shared Data\FotoStation Logon</String>
    </Group>
</FotoWare_Settings>
Legacy locationdata.xml properties and values
Property Possible values Explanation
locationType User, Logon

User specifies that each FotoStation user has an individual configuration stored in their user profile. In this mode, leave the logonPath and serverUrl properties empty.

Logon specifies FotoStation retrieves its configuration from an SMB file share. This property must be coupled with a valid LogonPath value.

logonPath

UNC path to the share with the configurations

Windows clients: \\servername\sharename\folder

Mac clients: /Volumes/volumename/sharename/folder)

Remember that the share has to be mounted for the Mac to find the logon folder.

If using per-user configurations, leave this property empty.
showOffline 0, 1

0 means that users cannot choose to work offline; they are required to log on to the server

1 means that users can choose the Work Offline option in the login dialog.
Users must first save a configuration for offline use.

Distributing the locationData.xml file

Having made the necessary adjustments to the locationData.xml file, add a scripted operation that stores it to /Library/Application Support/Fotoware/FotoStation.

What's next?

If you have not already created server-stored configurations for FotoStation, see Managing several FotoStation configurations on the network.