General questions

Installation

Q: Should I install the program on a server or on a workstation?

A: Both a server and a workstation can run Total Network Inventory. It mainly depends on which setup is more convenient for you. All you need is access to the graphical console of the computer where it is installed, either directly or through a remote desktop connection. However, if you run it under the domain admin account, you’ll be able to scan all computers as “current user” – otherwise you’d need to specify domain admin credentials explicitly. In general, we recommend installing the program on server systems or modern desktops.

Backup and restore

Q: How do I back up and restore the Storage or move the program to another computer?

A: The Storage is located in a separate folder (file system directory). You can locate it by right-clicking the storage root group and selecting Show in Explorer. Then go up one level and copy or archive the entire Storage folder.

Program settings can be backed up by copying/archiving a folder entitled Total Network Inventory in your account’s AppData folder (which can be expanded using the %APPDATA% environment variable) if you selected Install for me during installation. If you selected Install for all, the settings are stored in “C:\ProgramData\Total Network Inventory“. You can also find this folder by clicking Open tasks folder in the Scanner tab and then going up one level.

To restore your setup, install the program on another computer (but don’t run it) and extract your backed-up settings to the Total Network Inventory folder in AppData for your user profile or all users, depending on which installation option you selected (after the installation, this folder is automatically created and contains one file: config.ini). Also, extract the Storage folder locally, for example, to Documents. Then run the program and browse to the storage folder when prompted (if its location differs from the path stored in previous settings).

Backup of the Storage to a .zip archive and its subsequent restoration can also be performed from the program’s Storage menu. Regular backups can be performed using the Scheduler.

Accessing the storage from multiple computers

Q: Can I open the same storage in several TNI copies at the same time?

A: In Single storage (general) mode, you can connect several TNI installations to one storage located in a shared folder. However, the program does not provide any special mechanisms for simultaneous operation (simultaneous editing in particular). Therefore, while all users can read information from the same storage, only one user should edit it to avoid critical errors.

Starting from version 6.2 you can work with Multi-user storage. This allows multiple users to work with the storage simultaneously without risking data loss.