Preparing Your Environment for SOTI MobiControl

About this task

Prepare your servers and database before installing SOTI MobiControl to avoid configuration errors.

Procedure

  1. Review Planning Your SOTI MobiControl Installation to help you decide if you should install all SOTI MobiControl components on one server or across several. Servers should only host SOTI MobiControl components.
    Important: Confirm that your SOTI MobiControl license supports multiple servers. Contact your SOTI sales account representative if you're unsure.
    Important: You must not keep the SOTI MobiControl console in global cache. Instead, use sticky sessions when using load-balancing on the deployment server and management service.
  2. Review the System Requirements and ensure that each server meets the minimum requirements.
  3. You must have a local administrator account for each server. If you do not have a local administrator account, follow the instructions in Microsoft Service Account with specific permissions.
  4. Check if other applications are using any of the same ports that SOTI MobiControl uses. On the server, navigate to Start > Windows Administrative Tools > Resource Monitor. On the Network tab, expand Listening Ports to view a list of applications and the ports they're using. Compare to the SOTI MobiControl Network Ports.
    Important: Although not recommended, you can customize SOTI MobiControl to use HTTPS on a port other than 443. You can customize the port either during installation or at any time using the SOTI MobiControl Administration Utility. This may be necessary with more complex network structures (for example, network structures that incorporate firewalls).
  5. Record the Fully Qualified Domain Name (FQDN) or IP address of each server. If possible, use the FQDN rather than the IP address as it is less likely to change.
  6. Ensure your database meets the SOTI MobiControl Database Requirements.
    Note: The SOTI MobiControl installer installs Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Express (Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Express is the free version of Microsoft SQL Server 2022).
    Note: The SOTI MobiControl installer requires internet connectivity to download and install Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Express. If the server is offline, download the Microsoft SQL Server 2022 Express installer and install it on the server before installing SOTI MobiControl.
  7. Remove any existing Microsoft SQL Server databases. To install a fresh version of Microsoft SQL Server on a server that previously had another instance installed, uninstall the previous version and delete the configuration files in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL to avoid configuration conflicts.
  8. Enable the TCP/IP network protocol in your Microsoft SQL Server network configuration.
  9. Confirm that port 1433 is free. It is used for communication between the database and SOTI MobiControl services.
  10. Optional: Install Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio to manage Microsoft SQL Server and Windows users.
    Warning: Making changes directly to the database voids the SOTI MobiControl end-user license agreement.

Results

You are now ready to install SOTI MobiControl. Keep each server's user account credentials (local administrator and SA) and FQDN handy.

Note: SOTI MobiControl generates a certificate and binds it to port 443 during installation. You can replace it with a third-party certificate following installation with the SOTI MobiControl Administration Utility.

What to do next

Go to Installing SOTI MobiControl.