Introduction

The start-up wizard is displayed the first time you login to Console. The wizard provides a user-friendly method to configure various mandatory settings and options, such as:

Entering a license key
Configuring access to CAST Extend / use of a proxy caching server

Each step in the wizard is explained in detail below.

Note that if you do not see the start-up wizard when you first log in to Console, you have not yet installed and configured at least one Node instance (see AIP Node package - back-end installation). When this is complete, the start-up wizard will be displayed on login.

Validate License

This step enables you to choose your license strategy:

Console ≥ 2.2

In these releases, you can choose the type of license key you are using:

CAST AIP Console > Complete start-up wizard - v. 2.x > wiz1_new.jpg

by Contributing Developers (CDs)

This option allows you to insert a global license key based on the number of Contributing Developers (i.e. users). The license key is applied automatically to all Node instances that you are managing with Console. When this type of license key is used a License Key section (Administration Center - Settings - License Key) is made available in Administration Center - Applications - Application Details - this enables you to update/replace the license key:

CAST AIP Console > Complete start-up wizard - v. 2.x > app_details.jpg

by Named Application

This option is specifically for license keys that name the application, for example using the following format:

<customer>:1;<application_name>;<type>:<validity_period>:<hash_key>

When this type of license key is used:

The license field is disabled in the startup-wizard and instead the license key will be required when onboarding a new Application (see Workflow - Application onboarding with Fast Scan) or when creating a new application (Application onboarding without Fast Scan - Add a new Application):

CAST AIP Console > Complete start-up wizard - v. 2.x > licensekey_named.jpg

CAST AIP Console > Complete start-up wizard - v. 2.x > licensekey.jpg

The License Key section in Administration Center - Settings - License Key will be hidden (this is only shown for a legacy or Contributing Developer license key).
A License Key field will be made available in the Rename application dialog box in Administration Center - Applications - you must ensure that a new Named Application license key for the renamed application is entered into this new field:

CAST AIP Console > Complete start-up wizard - v. 2.x > rename_app.jpg

Console 1.x - 2.1

In these releases, the global license key is applied automatically to all Node instances that you are managing with Console:

CAST AIP Console > Complete start-up wizard - v. 2.x > wiz1.jpg

Click Next to continue to the next step of the wizard.

You can change the license key settings post-installation as described in Administration Center - Settings - License Key. However it is NOT possible to change the strategy from Named Application to Contributing Developer or vice versa once the strategy has been chosen.

CAST Extend options

This step enables you to manage access to CAST Extend (this allows each Node to automatically download any CAST AIP extension that you may want to use, or that may be required for an analysis) and an optional Proxy Configuration:

CAST AIP Console > Complete start-up wizard - v. 2.x > wiz2.jpg

Connect to CAST Extend

Choose one option (these settings can be managed post installation in Administration Center - Settings - CAST Extend):

Extend website

When enabled, this mode configures each Node to connect to CAST's publicly available extension server (https://extend.castsoftware.com/) over the internet on port 443 via TCP.

In this mode, the CAST Extend URL field will be automatically populated with the CAST Extend URL (https://extend.castsoftware.com/) in read-only mode (i.e. the URL cannot be changed). You will then need to input your CAST Extend API key (this can be generated in the CAST Extend UI - see CAST Extend. Console will check that it can access Extend when you click Next.

If you do not have an account on CAST Extend, you can register for one, for free, using the following URL: https://extend.castsoftware.com/#/register

Extend local server

In Console ≥ 1.25, the minimum required release of Extend Proxy (Extend local server) is 1.1.0-funcrel.

When enabled, this mode configures each Node to connect to an on-premises deployment of CAST Extend local server, therefore avoiding a connection to CAST's publicly available extension server over the internet. See Install CAST Extend local server or Offline - optional.

Enter the URL of your on-premises CAST Extend local server, enter the API Key and then click Next to continue - Console will then check that it can access it:

CAST AIP Console > Complete start-up wizard - v. 2.x > extend_proxy.jpg

API Key

The API Key will have been generated during the installation of CAST Extend local server and is displayed in the final summary screen of the installer:

CAST AIP Console > Complete start-up wizard - v. 2.x > setup_endsummary.jpg

Alternatively you can find the API key in the following location on the server on which CAST Extend local server is installed:

%PROGRAMFILES%\CAST\Extend\config.proxy.json

The key is located on the line APIKEY:

{
  "PORT": 8085,
  "STORAGE_DIR": "c:/ProgramData/CAST/Extend",
  "PACKAGE_DIR": null,
  "LOG_DIR": "C:/Program Files/CAST/Extend/logs",
  "PUBLIC_URL": "http://WIN10TEST:8085/",
  "EXTEND_URL": "https://extend.castsoftware.com",
  "APIKEY": "<api_key>",
  "ADMI": "admi1b878be2b185ff2ceada943c07b066c3bbfd9f9f5c5d931fe57da43e7b98dd4cad77ad4aacd95141ebb8b27d2edd666b5ab91f76cc95ae4b2e9c7c95121eb5322",
  "SYNC_TYPE": "auto"
}

Extend offline service (deprecated)

CAST Extend Offline is deprecated and you should use CAST Extend local server instead.

When enabled, this mode configures each Node to connect to an on-premises deployment of CAST Extend Offline, therefore avoiding a connection to CAST's publicly available extension server over the internet. See Install CAST Extend local server or Offline - optional.

In this mode, the CAST Extend URL field will be empty and the CAST Extend Login (email) and CAST Extend Password fields will be hidden (no authentication is required for the on-premises CAST Extend Offline). Enter the URL of your on-premises CAST Extend Offline and then click Next to continue - Console will then check that it can access the on-premises CAST Extend Offline:

CAST AIP Console > Complete start-up wizard - v. 2.x > extend_offline.jpg

Allow CAST to automatically collect anonymous statistical data

See Administration Center - Settings - Allow CAST to collect anonymous statistical data automatically for more information about this option.

Proxy Configuration (optional)

If your organization requires internal systems to use a proxy caching server (such as Squid) for all connections, you can use these options to configure Console/Nodes to use a proxy server for all communication (for example communication on Nodes, Dashboards, CAST Extend, Maven repos, database servers etc.) as follows:

Extension Downloader limitation (for Console ≤ 1.24)

The Extension Downloader (a tool present on each Node which is used by Console in ≤ 1.24 to download extensions) cannot be configured to obey a manual proxy configuration defined in Console. Instead, if your organization uses a proxy, CAST recommends that:

you define the required proxy configuration at system level (i.e. operating system level) on all Nodes
define a manual proxy configuration using the settings described below - this ensures that everything else will connect through the proxy

Extension Downloader was replaced with ExtendCli in Console ≥ 1.25, therefore this limitation is no longer applicable for newer releases of Console.

Windows Services

If the Nodes packages are configured to run through Windows Services, it is important to ensure that the user login configured to run the Windows Services has permission to access any proxy that you define. If the user running the Windows Services cannot access the proxy, then the Nodes will not be able to access the required resources.

No Proxy

Default setting. No proxy required.

Use system proxy settings

This option will force Console and all Nodes to use the host machine's system proxy settings for all communication (i.e the proxy settings defined on each host server).

Manual proxy configuration

This option allows you to configure your own proxy settings specifically for Console and all Node communication (for example if you do not want to use the system proxy settings set on the host or you are using a custom proxy script). These are applied to Console and all Nodes:

Host

Enter the IP address/URL of the proxy server you need to use.

Port

Enter the port number of the proxy server you need to pass through.

Username/password

If your proxy requires authentication, you can enter the required credentials in these fields.

Excluded Address

These options enable you to exclude certain destination addresses from using the manually configured proxy settings:

CAST AIP Console > Complete start-up wizard - v. 2.x > manual_proxy.jpg

The value of this property is a list of hosts, separated by the semicolon ';' character. In addition, the wildcard character '*' can be used for pattern matching. For example ”*.foo.com;localhost” will indicate that every host in the foo.com domain and the localhost should be accessed directly even if a proxy server is specified.

CAST highly recommends excluding the following URLs when you are using the Manual Proxy option:

CAST Dashboard URL defined in Administration Center - Settings - Dashboard Integration
CAST Imaging URL defined in Administration Center - Settings - Imaging Settings
If the Node/server accessing the CAST Extend Service is configured to pass all outgoing connections through a proxy (via the Windows proxy settings or via the Console settings), then you may need to also whitelist the IP address/host name of the server running CAST Extend Service in order to route connections correctly

You can change the CAST Extend/Proxy settings post-installation as described in:

Review

The final step in the wizard enables you to review the selections you have made. If anything requires changing, click the Back button to cycle back through the wizard and make any changes you need. Click Save and Finish when ready. You will then be directed to the AIP Console - Application Management page.

CAST AIP Console > Complete start-up wizard - v. 2.x > wiz3.jpg