Installing CatTools as an application or a service

During the installation of Kiwi CatTools, you have the option of installing the program as either an application or as a service.

Application installs CatTools as a typical Windows software application, requiring you to log in to Windows before running the program.
Service installs CatTools as a Windows software service, allowing the program to run without the need for you to log in to Windows.
- This option also installs the CatTools Manager which is used to control the service.

Install CatTools as an application

The application version installs CatTools as an application, requiring a user to log in to Windows before opening the program.

Installing CatTools as an application is recommended if you need to run one-off or attended Activities. This option is also recommended for infrequent or part-time users who are running CatTools on their own personal computers.

Install CatTools as a service

The Service version installs CatTools as a Windows service, allowing the program to run without the need to log in to Windows. This option also installs the CatTools Manager, which is used to manage your device activities and activity schedules.

You can interact with the CatTools service using the CatTools Manager, which can be thought of as the GUI for the service.

When using the service version of CatTools, it is important that you run the program as an account with administrator privileges to perform the tasks necessary for CatTools to operate. In most cases, the Local System account is sufficient; however if you have difficulties getting CatTools to run as a service, you may need to use an account with higher administrator privileges.

SolarWinds recommends the service installation to Enterprise customers, as well as anyone running unattended activities, who need to make use of around-the-clock scheduling, or who are dedicating a machine specifically for CatTools to run on.

What is a service?

A service is a program that runs in the background and interacts with a machine according to different rules from a standard application. A standard application is able to run according to the limitations of the user who is logged in at the time. A service by default runs under a local system account, which normally has many restrictions in terms of file permissions.

A service runs when a system is powered on and does not require a user to be logged in to the machine to execute.

Access UNC and mapped drives

By default, the service version is logged in using a local system account. This account is different from a user account you use to access the machine running CatTools. The local system account does not identify any mapped drives that are defined and are accessible by your user account.

SolarWinds recommends that where possible, any activities run by CatTools that need to access a network location to read data do so using the full UNC path name. Otherwise, the activities report may generate incorrect results. For example, if a backup activity always returns a status of Configuration is New each time it runs it is likely that the CatTools service cannot access the network location defined in the activity setup for the current configuration file.

Install CatTools on a virtual machine

Kiwi CatTools can run on a virtual machine, but may require you to adjust the setup of the VM.

You can configure your virtual machines to use multiple virtual CPUs, based on the number of physical CPUs you have on your server. However, CatTools spawns multiple clients and this can slow down the operation of CatTools while the virtual machine waits for your physical processors to become free simultaneously.