Introduction

Spindle Document Distribution, when installed as a component of Spindle Document Management can show an issue where the Licence cannot be brought into the client upon opening SDM Tools. 

There are a number of causes for this issue, depending on where the problem manifests:

• The Spindle Document Capture service on the server is not running
• The SDCServiceUser in use is a local service account not a domain service account
• There is a firewall blocking communication between the client and the server
• There is an issue with the Window Authentication setting on the IIS Application Pools 

Applies to:

• Spindle Document Management v8
• Spindle Document Management v9
• Spindle Document Management v10

Troubleshooting

Establish the scope of the issue:

1. If you open the client software on the server, do you still see the error? 

If so, the problem is likely with the service

If not, the problem is with the network connection, see point 2.

2. Does the problem occur on all client PCs or only one?

If it affects all client PCs, it may be that the communication is blocked by the firewall on the server.

If it affects only one client PC (or a subset of client PCs), it suggests that the communication is being blocked by the firewall on the client PC(s)

Resolution

To resolve this issue you will need to create a Domain Based Service User account, which has the ability to "Log on as Service"

Once the Service Account has been created you would need to change the Account details in the following Areas 

(Screenshot denotes a local account please ensure the account supplied is a domain account DomainName\SDCServiceUser)

IIS Management>Application Pools>SDCAdmin>Advanced Settings>Identity

IIS Management>Application Pools>SDCWebAPI>Advanced Settings>Identity (SDM v8+ only)

(Screenshot denotes a local account, please ensure the account supplied is a domain account DomainName\SDCServiceUser)

Services>Spindle Document Capture Service>Properties>Logon

Services>Spindle Document Capture Mobile Service>Properties>Logon

3. Add SDCServiceUser as a New Login in Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio.

4. Assign public and dbcreator privileges within Server Roles

(Screenshot denotes a local account, please ensure the account supplied is a domain account DomainName\SDCServiceUser)

5. Assign it the database roles db_owner and public within User Mapping

(Screenshot denotes a local account, please ensure the account supplied is a domain account DomainName\SDCServiceUser)

Re-start the respective services:

If the issue still remains, please check the following:

On some server setups, the IIS_IUSRS group is not added to the 'Impersonate a client after authentication' policy. Please ensure the SDCServiceUser is added to the IIS_IUSRS group on the server and the IIS_IUSRS group has been added to this policy

For further investigation, open the URL:

https://<server_name>:34257/api/v1/licenses/SpindleDocumentManagement

In a web browser - when working you will see a JSON file containing the licence information. Otherwise you will see an error message in the browser window that may give further information about the nature of the error.

If you cannot resolve the issue from the message in the browser, please contact Draycir support.

Considerations for Windows Workgroup Environments

In a Windows workgroup, there is no centralised directory of user accounts, and usernames and passwords must be synchronised manually between different machines in the workgroup. Where we discuss domain accounts above, you will instead need to ensure the user name and password is the same on both the server and the client PC.