PlanetGIS User Guide/Installing PlanetGIS

From PlanetWiki

Contents 1 Installation requirements 2 Source files 3 Privileges required 4 Procedure 5 Updating an existing installation 6 Software registration 7 Updating your Software

Installation requirements

PlanetGIS requires the Microsoft Windows operating system (NT/2000/XP/2003/Vista), a minimum of 512MB of RAM and 20MB of hard disc space for installation. Performance improves greatly with the addition of RAM, especially on systems where not much is available for software applications and when large amounts of spatial information needs to be displayed. For XP, we recommend at least 1GB of RAM and on Vista 2GB. For web servers or terminal servers 4GB or more is recommended.

Source files

The PlanetGIS components are available as single file installation packages which may be downloaded from the PlanetGIS website or distributed on CD/DVD-ROM and other media. The installation files include the software release version, e.g. Planet306Install.exe or PlanetP306Trial.exe. These files should be executed by double-clicking on them or from the Start->Run menu. On CD/DVD/USB drives you might be able to use AutoPlay to launch the installation.

Privileges required

Operating systems have become more restrictive when it comes to installing software. Since the PlanetGIS installation will be creating or updating files in the \Program Files directory, you probably need to be logged in as a user with administrative privileges. (It is possible to install the software to some other location where you have sufficient access).

Procedure

1. (For licensed versions) Enter your user name, organization, and license key provided. If you purchased licenses from our website you will have received your license key via email as well as see it listed on your user profile page (www.planetgis.co.za/profile.php). The license key was generated by encoding into it your organization name along with other information about your software. You need to enter your organization's name as you did on the website, or as provided to your dealer. Your user and organization name will be displayed on the start-up screen every time you launch PlanetGIS. You cannot proceed beyond this step without a valid license key.
2. You can now change the installation location. This is c:\Program Files\Planet GIS by default on most systems.
3. Change the name of the group in the Start menu. We recommend that you leave it as "Planet GIS", unless you have sub folders in your start menu.
4. Verify the information you have supplied and click [Install] to begin copying the files.

Updating an existing installation

It is not necessary to uninstall a pre-existing installation before upgrading. The only requirement for upgrading is that your existing installation is registered on our website. You can register your software with the Help->Register software menu item in PlanetGIS, or use the registration wizard provided with the installer. (The latter will be your only option if you have uninstalled your software or if your installation became non-operational.

Software registration

There are three ways to register your software. The first option (online registration) is the quickest but you need internet access from the computer on which you are registering the software and a user account on www.planetgis.co.za.

• Online registration:
  Select this option if you already have a user account at www.planetgis.co.za. It does not have to be your own user account. It is possible, for example, to use a single account for all the users at your organization. We recommend that you create your own account, though, because we can then send you individual software update notifications and you can participate on the support forums as yourself. You need to enter your email address (which you use to login on our website) and your password, as indicated in the figure. Your organization might have a proxy server controlling access to the internet. If this is the case and unless you know the settings (or how to find it) it is quicker to choose the second option.
• Manual online registration:
  To use your web browser or a browser on a different computer that has internet, choose the second option. You need to provide your license key and the installation id. The installation id is a number that is unique to your computer. The clipboard and other buttons are provided as a convenience.
  Once logged in to your user profile page (www.planetgis.co.za/profile.php), follow the link to enter your license key. Once you have entered the required information, a registration key will be generated which you need to enter as indicated on the figure.
• 
  Registration by fax or email:
  Use this option if you would prefer to contact us directly. You need to provide your email address (or some other method of contacting you) in the box provided and click on [Generate message]. The content of this message will be displayed and placed on your clipboard so that you can paste it into an email or document to be faxed to us. As soon as we receive your message, we will generate a registration key for you and send it to you.

Updating your Software

All purchases of new licenses include access to software updates from the PlanetGIS website for one year. This also includes major version updates, e.g. version 3.0 to 4.0. When the year expires, you have the option to subscribe to a further year at the cost of 25% of the current rate (at the time of renewal) for your software license(s). If you choose not to subscribe for continued updates, you can update your software at any future date at 66% of the cost of your licenses at such date.

You must be registered on the PlanetGIS website in order to download updates.

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