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Typefi Workgroup Server and InDesign Server installation example

Guy van der Kolk
  • Updated

This article is an informal set of installation procedures on Windows Server—revised for InDesign Server 2020 and above.

NOTE Adobe InDesign 2019 (and above) Server does not support installing on Windows Server 2012/R2. Adobe InDesign Server (latest being the v15 or 2020) installation package will install the latest version and requires internet connectivity, the ability to run JavaScript, and may be affected by certain security controls.

Prep

  1. Download all required files (see list below).
  2. Make internet access available to the server or make preparations for offline activation. Doing this online is highly recommended.
  3. Create a local administrator or a domain user account with local admin rights. Grant it log on as service rights. This account will be used as the service account for Typefi and InDesign. See Add the Log on as a service right to an account.
  4. Disable UAC on the system.
  5. Restart the system.

Downloads

  • Typefi Server for Workgroup, latest available version from ftp.typefi.com.
  • Typefi Designer Server, latest available version from ftp.typefi.com.
  • Typefi Server Plugins, latest available from ftp.typefi.com.
  • Adobe InDesign Server directly from Adobe.
  • Deliverables (scripts, fonts, and other materials used for projects).
  • Client Software: Typefi Designer, Typefi Writer, Typefi Typefitter.

Installation (abbreviated procedures)

These procedures are designed to help system administrators quickly deploy a Typefi 8 Workgroup Server.

1. Install the InDesign Service

  1. The Adobe InDesign Server Set-up will ask you to select the installation location and also require an Adobe Sign-In. You can create an account from the installer. This requires an internet connection. NOTE You may change the installation path, although that is not necessary.
  2. Restart the instance after Adobe InDesign Server is installed.
  3. Launch the command line as administrator. Using the command line, change directories all the way through the Adobe InDesign Server... folder that was installed. Run this command: indesignserverservice.exe /install and verify a success message.

2. Register and configure the InDesign Server Management Console

  1. Launch command line as Administrator. Using the command line, change directories all the way through the Adobe InDesign  Server 20XX folder that was installed. Run this command: regsvr32 InDesignServerMMC64.dll and verify it to be successful. Leave the CMD window open; you will come back to it shortly.
  2. From the same command line window, you can type MMC and launch the Windows Management Console. Click File → Add/Remove Snap-In, and locate the InDesign Snap-In. NOTE Be sure the copyright is visible, as that tells you the previous step was successful. If the copyright is blank, something is wrong with the registration, and you will likely require further support. If that happens, make a note, but proceed with these steps anyways.
  3. Once you open the InDesign Management Console, create a service instance by left-clicking on the InDesignServer tree, then right-clicking in the blank window and choosing New Service. The service will immediately appear. Edit the properties to assign port 8470 to the service; this is a common port for the Typefi Designer Server. NOTE This step is not entirely intuitive, but it is critical as it sets up the registry.
  4. Go to the Windows Services Console, locate InDesignServerService and edit properties. Change the startup from Manual to Automatic. Then, from the Logon tab, change the setting from Local System to the account you provisioned earlier. NOTE Do not start the service.
  5. Going back to the open command line window, change directory into the Adobe InDesign Server folder, type InDesignServer.com and press Enter. NOTE This step requires internet connectivity. It will start InDesign Server; this will be pretty obvious, as it will load plug-ins. If this happens, press Ctrl + C and start it again.
  6. Confirm it starts twice before moving on. Once again, Ctrl + C to end it.

3. Install Typefi Designer Server and Typefi Server for Workgroup

  1. Run the Typefi Designer Server installer accepting all defaults; there is no need to change the installation path. This is a simple defaults-only installation and is very quick. Upon completion, open the .\Adobe InDesign 20XX Server\Plug-Ins folder and verify that a folder named Typefi was created.
  2. Run the Typefi Workgroup Server installer. Although you may select all defaults, our suggested practice is to install to a dedicated volume or a designated app folder. The contents of this package include Apache Tomcat and Typefi Server Console files.
    1. Open the Windows Services Console, and stop the Typefi Workgroup Server service. Change the Log on As settings to use the account you previously provisioned and used for InDesignServerService.
  3. Reboot the server.
  4. Once back up, verify InDesign Server is running. There should be two processes running: InDesignServer.exe and InDesignServerService.exe.
  5. If required, open firewall ports for port 8080 or any other ports you intend to use.

4. Provision key features

At this point, you have InDesign installed, as well as Typefi Workgroup Server installed. Now it‘s time to provision key features.

  1. Open your web browser and visit http://localhost:8080. This should load a Typefi sign-in page. The password is admin/admin.
  2. Go to Admin → Plugins and click Add Plugin to install the additional WAR files provided in your Deliverables. You will have a few of them. NOTE Each time you add a file, the process may take a moment and will populate the new action on that screen with an auto-refresh. Do not cancel or manually refresh the page. NOTE If you do not see the files uploading, this means a local security setting is affecting the system. As a temporary workaround, you may locate the Typefi installation folder, click on .\Typefi\Server\webapps and paste all the WAR files into that folder. You will see them self-extract within a few moments. If this happens, make a note of the issue so it can be resolved.
  3. Go to Admin → Filestore and review the Filestore. At this point, I would not make any changes, but note that the Filestore is C:\ProgramData\Typefi\Filestore. You can change the location or leave it as is. If a change is made, be sure the directory exists and has full rights by the service account. NOTE This can be easily moved later by stopping the Typefi services, moving the directory, resetting security, and updating the path.
  4. Go to Admin → LDAP. If you choose to use your directory services, this is the opportunity to configure it. There are many ways to configure LDAP, and some basic LDAP search query syntax knowledge is required. I am providing a common example here:
    1. Server URL: ldap://yourservername.YourDomain.YourSuffix
    2. Username: userwithdelegatedrightstodirectory
    3. Password: password
    4. Search Base: OU=Users,DC=YourDomain,DC=YourSuffix.
    5. Additional Search Filter: Can be left as-is, or changed. In this example we use the "OR" logic to allow users from two groups: (|(memberOf=CN=Typefi-Users-Group1,OU=Typefi Groups,DC=YourDomain,DC=YourSuffix)(memberOf=CN=Typefi-Users-Group2,OU=Typefi Groups,DC=YourDomain,DC=YourSuffix))
    6. Username Attribute: userPrincipalName. You will find "samAccountName" is most often the typical field, while sometimes "mail" is preferred.
    7. Display Name: cn
    8. Idle Session Timeout: Leave blank unless you require advanced security.
    9. Click Save. NOTE Typefi inherently blocks passwords with < or > or & due to internal security features. If your users have those characters inside their passwords, they will not be able to sign in.
  5. Go to Admin → External Applications and click InDesign. Configure the engine. A sample configuration is:
    1. Name: 20XX
    2. Host: 127.0.0.1 or localhost
    3. Port: 8470
    4. Click Save and then refresh. You should see PDF Presets load.
  6. Go to Admin → Superuser. Change the password if required.
  7. Go to Admin → Licenses. Your organisation‘s Tech Rep will have your Installation Code. Once you enter it in, you must click Request License and await a second email. The second email will contain the license key. Follow the instructions in the email, and make sure you copy and paste the license key exactly as written in the email. NOTE Offline activation is possible. To complete an offline activation attempt, you will need to access the http://localhost:8080/license page on the Typefi Workgroup Server, click Add and add the installation ID. Then, click Request License. A new tab or window will open and fail to connect to our servers. Copy the URL from the address bar and paste (and go) from a system that has internet access. The result will be a key emailed to the customer contact. An alternative approach is to access the Typefi Server web interface from a system that is connected to the internet and proceed with normal activation.
  8. Restart the server once more, or at least restart the services.

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