While installing WhatsUp Gold is simple, there are several options to consider before you begin the installation process.

  • You can choose to use either the bundled Microsoft SQL Server Express Edition, installed by the WhatsUp Gold installation program, or an existing Microsoft SQL Server database to store the data collected by WhatsUp Gold.
  • If you are connecting to a remote database, ensure you are using an account which can connect to that database and has the appropriate permissions to create databases on that server.
  • You can choose to use non-default database names for the WhatsUp and Network Traffic Analysis databases.
  • We recommend using port 80 for the WhatsUp Gold web site when using HTTP and port 443 when using HTTPS, though you can choose to use other ports, if desired. If an alternate port number is used, the URL for the WhatsUp Gold web site requires that port number to be appended to the hostname or IP address when forming the URL. For example, if you are using HTTP and chose 8888 as the port number instead of 80, your URL for a WhatsUp Gold install on the local host would be: http://localhost:8888/nmconsole. In this case, if port 80 is used by a current IIS web site, you must either allow WhatsUp Gold to disable that web site and take over port 80 or choose another port.
CAUTION: WhatsUp Gold now gives you the option to Use Windows Authentication. If this option is enabled, the SQL Server Login Name and Password are not required during installation. When installing WhatsUp Gold using an existing SQL Server instance, the user logged in at the time of installation must be a system administrator on the specified SQL Server to proceed without generating an error. Additionally, if you’re using a remote SQL Server instance, the Windows user logged in during installation must already have access granted on that remote SQL Server.
Important: We recommend disabling the WebDav extension on the WhatsUp Gold server. Not doing so could potentially cause issues editing saved discovery scans and/or credentials.

Potential SQL Server installation errors

  • DO NOT use Terminal Services or Remote Desktop for the installation. The installation or upgrade may fail.
  • There are known issues with installing WhatsUp Gold on a domain controller, therefore installing WhatsUp Gold on a domain controller is not a supported install scenario.
  • If there was a previous, non-default installation of WhatsUp Gold, a "WhatsUp" Data Source (DSN) may still exist. Remove the WhatsUp DSN from the Data Sources (ODBC) Control Panel and restart the install.