FAQs

This FAQ applies to an old version of the CSD Portfolio, the latest version is 2024.1.

Installation of the 2023 CSD Portfolio Software and Data

There are several options to adjust the installation of the CSD Portfolio to your needs. 

Installing the CSD data and CSD Portfolio software separately

It is possible to install the CSD data and the CSD Portfolio software to different locations. This can be useful to, for example, have a single data installation on a network accessible location that multiple software-only installations can use. This will allow you to save space on the systems where the software is installed.

Using the standard graphical installation interface, you will have the option to install both data and software (the default), only data, or only software. It is recommended to perform the data-only install first. If this is done, you can supply the path to the location of the data during installation of the software and have this location automatically used when running the software.

Running the installer at the command line

More advanced use of the CSD Portfolio installers usually involves running via the command line.

Windows:

Ensure you are in the same directory as the .exe installer file and then just type its name, e.g.

csds-windows.exe


Linux:

Ensure you are in the same working directory as the .run installer executable and type its name prepended by ./ ("in this directory"), e.g.

./csds-linux-x64.run


MacOS:

To run the installer application at the command line, ensure you are in the same working directory and use the open command, e.g.:

open csds-osx.app

Installing without GUI access

If you do not have graphical access to the machine where you are installing, the installation program can be run using a text-only interface. This can be useful when running over slow connections or as a simplified interface. This interface should automatically be invoked if it senses there is not a graphical interface, but can also be manually specified if desired by adding the --mode text argument when running the CSDS installer at the command line, for example:

./csds-linux-x64.run --mode text


You will be walked through the same installation procedure as in the graphical interface and have the same options. This option is not available on Windows, but you can use the unattended mode (see below).

Silent install using the command line

The technology used by the CSD installers allows all info normally entered in the graphical installer interface to instead be specified directly via command line arguments. This enables silent / unattended installation, which can be useful for mass deployments of the software.

Running the installation program in a terminal/shell with the --help option will provide a complete list of the command-line options available. For example:

csds-windows.exe --help

Below are some of the more common options or scenarios.

• --mode unattended will force the installer to operate in batch/unattended mode. There are several associated options that are required for automated installations:
  • --prefix give the root directory of the installation. On Linux, it will default to $HOME/CCDC, on Windows to C:\Program Files\CCDC and /Applications/CCDC on MacOS.
  • --unattendedmodeui can take the values:
    • none for an unattended silent install
    • minimal  for limited feedback
    • minimalWithDialogs for dialog driven feedback if possible
  • --Licensing can take the values of:
    • NotNow to skip registration. Activation will need to be completed manually later
    • ActivateAfterInstall to attempt to activate the software automatically immediately after the installation process. Will additionally require the activation key. This mode requires the machine to have access to the internet as it will contact the CCDC licensing server.
    • LocalLicenceServer will use a specified existing local licence server. You will require the hostname or IP of the licence server, and the port it is using.
  • -activation_key <activation_key> is used to in conjunction with --Licensing ActivateAfterInstall to activate the software during the installation process.
  • --activate_admin true is used to in conjunction with --Licensing ActivateAfterInstall to activate the software during the installation process for all users of a system. This causes the software to auto-activate online when each user first starts one of the components of the CSD-System. Requires admin rights.
  • --server_host <server_host> and --server_port <server_port> are used in conjunction with --Licensing LocalLicenceServer to configure access to a local licence server.
  • --server_admin true is used to in conjunction with --Licensing ActivateAfterInstall to setup access to a local licence server for all users of a system. Requires admin rights.
  • --enable-components and --disable-components will enable and disable the installation of the data (datagroup) and the software (softwaregroup) components of the CSD-System. Allows the values:
    • datagroup installs the data component
    • vcredist (Windows only) installs the Microsoft Visual Studio runtime libraries required by the CSD software.
    • softwaregroup installs the software component. This option additionally allows the specification of the location of your data install:
      • --csdsoftwareonly
        
        • true enables definition of the data directory via --csdsoftwareonlydatadir
        • false no link to a data directory will be carried out (default)
      • --csdsoftwareonlydatadir <data directory> should be set to the location of the main CSD database files, e.g. on Windows: "C:\Program Files\CCDC\CSD_2022\CSD_543"

Note that if an argument contains a space you will need to enclose it in double quotes. This is most common with Windows paths that contain elements like "Program Files".

The two most common scenarios are for batch mode installations with registration during installation:

• Windows
  • csds-windows.exe --prefix "C:\Program Files\CCDC" --mode unattended --unattendedmodeui none --Licensing ActivateAfterInstall –-activation_key 123456-123456-123456-123456-123456-123456
• Linux
  • ./csds-linux-x64.run --prefix /soft/ccdc --mode unattended --unattendedmodeui none --Licensing ActivateAfterInstall –-activation_key 123456-123456-123456-123456-123456-123456
• MacOS, navigate to csds-osx.app/Contents/MacOS
  
  • ./installbuilder.sh --prefix /Applications/CCDC --mode unattended --unattendedmodeui none --Licensing ActivateAfterInstall –-activation_key 123456-123456-123456-123456-123456-123456

or with an existing license server:

• Windows
  • csds-windows.exe --prefix "C:\Program Files\CCDC" --mode unattended --unattendedmodeui none --Licensing LocalLicenceServer --server_host myserver --server_port 1234 --server_admin true
• Linux
  • ./csds-linux-x64.run --prefix /soft/ccdc --mode unattended --unattendedmodeui none --Licensing LocalLicenceServer --server_host myserver --server_port 1234 --server_admin true
• MacOS, navigate to csds-osx.app/Contents/MacOS
  • ./installbuilder.sh --prefix /Applications/CCDC --mode unattended --unattendedmodeui none --Licensing LocalLicenceServer --server_host myserver --server_port 1234 --server_admin true

Uninstallation using the command line

In much the same way as the installer executable, the uninstaller that is created in the CSD_2022 installation folder can also be run either interactively via a GUI, or at the command line. Like the installer executable, you can view the options available with the uninstaller by using the --help argument, e.g.

uninstall.exe --help

To perform a silent uninstall with no further user prompts, use:

uninstall.exe --mode unattended


Note that it can take some time for the uninstall to complete.

MSI Installers

The standard CSD Portfolio installers are not MSI based on Windows. If such an installer would be useful for your organisation please contact us at support@ccdc.cam.ac.uk to obtain it.

Further Help

For more information on CSD Portfolio requirements and installation, please see the CSDS 2022.3 Release and Installation guide. For more help with more specialised install scenarios not covered above, please contact support@ccdc.cam.ac.uk for further assistance.