Preinstallation Checklist

The CommServe computer is the command and control center of the CommCell environment.

Use this preinstallation checklist to download the software and to gather all of the information you will need during the installation.

Download the Software

Use the Download Manager application to download the latest Commvault software. During the download, the application bundles an installation package with the software you chose to download. You must use the installation package to install the CommServe software.

To download the software, see Downloading Software for Windows Computers Using the Download Manager.

Determine the Installation Location

The table below describes the appropriate machine to install the CommServe software based on your environment.

Environment	Where to install the software
Non-Clustered	Install on the computer that will host the CommServe software.
Clustered	Install on the active physical node of the cluster first, and then on the passive physical nodes. You must determine which passive nodes you want to install the software. In the event of a failure, the active node can fail over to one of the passive nodes.
Disaster Recovery	If you plan to use the disaster recovery method where the CommServe fails over to an standby host, install the CommServe on the production and standby server computers.

Environment

Where to install the software

Non-Clustered

Install on the computer that will host the CommServe software.

Clustered

Install on the active physical node of the cluster first, and then on the passive physical nodes.

You must determine which passive nodes you want to install the software. In the event of a failure, the active node can fail over to one of the passive nodes.

Disaster Recovery

If you plan to use the disaster recovery method where the CommServe fails over to an standby host, install the CommServe on the production and standby server computers.

Review Microsoft SQL Server Considerations

The Microsoft SQL Server is automatically installed with the CommServe software. If SQL Server is already installed on the computer, the installation wizard skips the SQL Server installation.

Note

Commvault Systems, Inc. has an ISV-R royalty contract with Microsoft, allowing the Commvault software to be bundled with a full copy of the SQL Server Standard Edition. Commvault Systems, Inc. reports the license usage (per country) every month to Microsoft.

When the Microsoft SQL Server is installed as part of the CommServe installation, the Commvault software automatically sets the system administrator (sa) password. If SQL Server was installed separately and if the sa password does not match the default password set by Commvault, the installation wizard will prompt you for the password.

Additional Packages Installed with the CommServe

The table below lists the packages that are installed by default during the CommServe installation.

Packages automatically selected	Notes	Additional information
CommCell Console	The CommCell Console requires Java Runtime Environment (JRE). If JRE is not installed on the computer, it will be installed along with the CommCell Console. For more information about the JRE requirements, see System Requirements - CommCell Console.	Preinstallation Checklist for the CommCell Console on Windows
File System Core	None.	Preinstallation Checklist for the Windows File System Agent
File System	Consumes a license. The File System agent requires Microsoft Visual C++. If Microsoft Visual C++ is not installed on the computer, it will be installed along with the File System agent. For more information about the requirements, see System Requirements - Windows File System Agent.	Preinstallation Checklist for the Windows File System Agent
Metrics Server	The Metrics Server package is automatically selected when you select the CommServe package. The Metrics Server package allows you to view Metrics Reports.	Preinstallation Checklist for Metrics Reporting Server
Web Console Web Server	The Web Server and Web Console packages are automatically selected if IIS is enabled on the computer. There are additional packages installed with the Web Server. Review the Web Server preinstallation checklist for details.	Preinstallation Checklist for the Web Console Preinstallation Checklist for the Web Server
Workflow Engine	None.	Preinstallation Checklist for the Workflow Engine

Gather Installation Data

Refer to the items below to gather the information that you will need during the installation. Record the information before you begin installing the software, so you can refer to it during the installation.

Commvault package to install

Install the CommServe package, which is listed under the Server category.

Destination folder for the Commvault software

By default, the software is installed in C:\Program Files\CommVault\ContentStore. You can change the destination folder, but it cannot be on a mapped network drive.

The installation program uses the C:\%allusersprofile% folder as a temporary location to copy the installation files. This location does not change, even if you choose to install the software on a drive other than C:.

Destination folder for the Database Engine

The database engine is the Microsoft SQL Server software. By default, the software binaries are installed in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server. You can change the destination folder, but it cannot be on a mapped network drive.

Note

If you plan to perform VSS enabled backups on the CommServe computer, do not install SQL Server on the system drive. VSS restores might cause system state restore issues.

Destination folder for the CommServe database

By default, the database files are installed in C:\Program Files\CommVault\ContentStore. The drive must have at least 1 GB of free space. You can change the destination folder, but the folder cannot reside on the following types of drives:

Mapped network drive
FAT drive (as it does not allow temporary sparse files to be generated when creating the database snapshot, which is required for data verification)
Compressed drive

Destination folder for disaster recovery files

Determine the location where you want to store the disaster recovery files. The destination folder can be a local path or a network path. If you decide to use a network path, you must have a user account with sufficient privileges to access the network.

Software cache

The CommServe cache stores the updates, service packs, and packages released by the software provider, which you can install on client computers from the CommCell Console. By default, the CommServe cache directory is stored in C:\Program Files\CommVault\ContentStore\SoftwareCache. The drive must have at least 5 GB of free space.

You can change the default location of the CommServe cache.

CommServe name

The default names shown below are provided by the installation wizard, but you can provide different names during installation.

The default CommServe Client Name is the local (NetBIOS) name of the computer where the CommServe package will be installed.
The default CommServe Host Name is the fully qualified domain name of the computer where the CommServe package will be installed.

Note

Verify that both the domain name and the computer name do not contain underscores.

If the CommServe computer has multiple network interface cards, the first network interface bound to the network must be used in the CommServe installation.

Windows firewall exclusion list

If the computer has Windows Firewall turned on, you can add the Commvault programs and services to the Windows Firewall exclusion list during the installation. We recommend this configuration which enables CommCell operations across the firewall.

CommServe database (new or existing)

By default, the installation wizard creates a new CommServe database.

If you are reinstalling the CommServe package, you can use the CommServe database dump file that was created during a disaster recovery backup. This is useful if you need to perform one of the following tasks:

Rebuild your CommServe computer as part of a disaster recovery scenario.
Move the CommServe database to another computer as part of a hardware refresh process.

Note

If the new computer uses different IP settings than the old CommServe computer, contact your software provider to request a new CommServe license configured with the new IP address.

If you reinstall the CommServe package with other server packages, you can also submit the database dump files for the Web Server (shown as DM2) and Workflow Engine.

Commvault ID

The Commvault ID is the email address and password associated with the CommCell administrator account. You must enter an email address and password to finish the installation process.

Important

You will create the Commvault ID and the CommCell administrator account during the installation process. During this process, a user account for the Cloud Services website is also created and associated with the CommCell environment. The Commvault ID functions as the logon credentials for the Cloud Services website.

By default, the installation program defines admin as the user name of the CommCell administrator account. The password associated with the admin user must meet the following strength requirements:

A minimum of eight characters
One uppercase letter
One lowercase letter
One number
One special character

After the installation, you can use the admin credentials to access the CommCell Console, Web Console, and Command Center. You can use your Commvault ID to log on to the Cloud Services website.