1. Finder Installation

1.1. Installing NEXThink Finder

NEXThink V4 Finder may be installed using one of the setup programs found in the Engine Downloads page of Console.

1. Connect to Console.

2. Go to Engine > Downloads.

3. Choose one of the available Finder downloads:

   • Standalone NEXThink Finder installer (NEXThinkFinder.msi): select this option if it is the first time that you install Finder and Microsoft .NET Framework 4 is already installed in your client computer.

   • NEXThink Finder Installer with .NET Framework (NEXThinkFinder.exe): if you are sure that your client computer does not have Microsoft .NET Framework 4 installed, use this download instead of the standalone installer. The size of this download is significantly bigger than the size of the standalone installer.

   • Standalone NEXThink Finder executable (nxfinder.exe): this download is not really a Finder setup program but the Finder executable itself. You can copy nxfinder.exe to the path of your preference in your client computer and launch Finder from there. This requires having installed Finder by means of the MSI installer already once in your computer (otherwise Finder will be functional, but some minor features will be lost). Contrary to the two previous installation methods, this copy method allows you having several versions of NEXThink Finder V4 available in a single client computer at the same time. For normal Finder utilization, we recommend however to use one of the previous installation methods and have just a single version of Finder installed. Use this method only if you know what you are doing.

1.1.1. Installation Procedure with the Standalone Installer

The Finder installation procedure using the MSI package is straightforward:

1. Launch the installation by double-clicking NEXThinkFinder.msi.

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2. Read and acknowledge the End-User License Agreement of NEXThink Finder V4.
3. Provide a destination location where to install the Finder.

   • Note: if you do not have Administrator privileges, you have to specify a user-writable directory.

4. Confirm the installation by clicking Install. The Finder will be installed and you will be informed of installation completion.

1.1.2. Installation Procedure with the .NET Framework 4

1. Launch the installation program by double-clicking NEXThinkFinder.exe.

2. Installation of Microsoft .NET Framework 4 Client Profile starts.
3. Once .NET Framework 4 is installed, the actual NEXThink Finder V4 installation begins.

4. Read the license agreement, provide a destination path and click on Install in the same way as explained for the Standalone Installer.

5. The setup program informs you when the installation is completed.

1.1.3. Upgrade considerations

Whenever there is a new version of NEXThink Finder available, you are notified by Finder itself. You can then download the new version directly from the link proposed by Finder. Any previous version of NEXThink Finder V4 or NEXThink Finder V3 in your system is uninstalled prior to the installation of an upgraded NEXThink Finder V4.

From the dialog, you can set Finder not to show the update message automatically. For displaying it manually, go to Help > Upgrade Finder.

1.1.3.1. NEXThink Engine Compatibility

Engine and Finder must be compatible with each other so they can establish communication. Please refer to the Release Notes to verify that your particular version of Finder is compatible with your current Engine. If your copy of Finder is not compatible with the Engine that you are trying to connect to, Finder detects the situation and offers you the possibility to download a compatible release of Finder from a given link.

The copy of NEXThink Finder V4 that you receive with the installation DVD of NEXThink V4 and that you can download from Console is, of course, guaranteed to be compatible with the Engine that is shipped in the same DVD. In case of incompatibility problems with other versions of Finder, you can always switch back to the copy included in the DVD.

1.2. Finder Configuration

Once you have installed Finder in your computer, test it by connecting it to Engine. If you installed Finder using the recommended method (that is, by means of the available installers), you can start Finder by selecting the following entry in the Start menu:

• Start > All Programs > NEXThink Finder > NEXThink Finder

The Finder executable will be launched. You can now connect to your engine by providing its IP address, port number and the following default credentials Username admin, Password admin:

You should change the default password of the user admin and replace it by a more secure password the first time you log in. In the unfortunate event that you forget the administrator password, you can reset it to its default value with the help of Console. Connect to Console, go to Engine > Finder admin account and click on the Reset button.

You can also configure the Finder authority password from Console. The authority password is required to give a Finder account the highest level of access rights to the information available in Engine. Connect to Console, go to Engine > Finder authority account and redefine the authority password from there.

Note that if you haven't previously installed and run Finder, a Certificate window will pop up when you first log in to Engine. Click on "Yes" to save the certificate as it enables secure communication with Engine.

1.3. Uninstallation

For uninstalling NEXThink Finder, select the following entry in the Start menu:

• Start > All Programs > NEXThink Finder > Uninstall NEXThink Finder

Alternatively, you can uninstall this product by using the Add/Remove Programs applet in the Control Panel.