Summary

Laserfiche Distributed Computing Cluster (DCC) is a Windows service installed on one or more machines that performs processing work for Laserfiche applications. DCC 10 performs OCR-processing work and can connect to Workflow 9.1+ and Web Access 9.1+ to allow these applications to enable OCR-related features (the Schedule OCR activity in Workflow and the Generate Searchable Text feature in Web Access). Distributed Computing Cluster 10.2 also introduces support for communicating with the Laserfiche Server over SSL/TLS.

Updating Instructions

To update Distributed Computing Cluster to 10.2

1. On the machine where the Laserfiche Distributed Computing Cluster service is installed as a Scheduler, stop the Laserfiche Distributed Computing Cluster service. Go to Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Services, select the Laserfiche Distributed Computing Cluster service and click Stop the service.
2. On each Worker machine in the cluster, run the Distributed Computing Cluster 10.2 installer to perform the upgrade.
3. After upgrading each Worker machine, upgrade the Scheduler machine to 10.2.

Note: If you are using any of the Laserfiche Distributed Computing Cluster PowerShell module commands in scripts, you may need to update these scripts as some of the commands have changed or been renamed.

System Requirements

• Processor (CPU): 2.93 GHz or faster multi-core processor
• Memory: 1 GB RAM (2 GB recommended) per processor core
• Operating system: Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008R2, Windows Server 2012, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows 8.1, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows 10, Windows Server 2016.

  Note: Laserfiche Distributed Computing Cluster is only supported on x64 versions of your Windows operating system.

Note: The number of concurrent tasks a DCC worker can perform is usually limited by the number of processor cores on the machine hosting it. To increase a worker's performance, install it on a machine with a multi-core processor.

Software Requirements

• Laserfiche Rio or Laserfiche Avante
• Laserfiche Server 9.1+
• Web Administration Console 9.1.1+
• Workflow 9.1+
• Web Access 9.1+
• .NET Framework 4.5

  Note: When you install the Laserfiche Distributed Computing Cluster Service, PowerShell modules for administering the service are also installed. In order for these modules to be installed, the machine must have PowerShell 4.0 or higher installed. If your operating system does not come with PowerShell 4.0 or higher, you will need to install Windows Management Framework 4.0 or higher.

Note: If you are using License Manager 8.3.1, please install License Manager 8.3.1 Hotfix 1013437 to use Distributed Computing Cluster.

List of Changes

• Distributed Computing Cluster now supports communication with the Laserfiche Server over SSL/TLS. (110565)
• Performing a despeckle image enhancement with a speckle size of 1 no longer results in the Distributed Computing Cluster becoming unresponsive. (159585)
• The installation directory can now be modified. (111162)
• Configuration files will now be stored in "%ProgramData%\Laserfiche\Distributed Computing Cluster\Config". Existing configuration files from previous installations will automatically be copied to this location. (111967)
• New installations of Distributed Computing Cluster will now include version 19.2 of OmniPage. Existing installations, using version 18.5, will continue to use that version, but can be manually updated to use 19.2 by modifying the installation using Add/Remove Programs.

Known Issues

• When administering DCC through PowerShell, there is a several second delay after restarting the Scheduler before it returns up-to-date information. (107234)
• If you modify the installation for a DCC worker to make it a scheduler, the service will not identify itself as a scheduler until it is restarted. (107234)
• When the number of concurrent tasks a worker machine can perform is set above one, a rare issue that causes tasks to take longer than anticipated to complete can occur. (111314)
• On Windows Server 2008 machines, Distributed Computing Cluster services running as the Local System account cannot authenticate to other machines using Windows Authentication. To fix this issue, run the services as a domain user that has been added to the Worker Distributed Computing Cluster authorization group in the Web Administration Console.
• In some cases, uninstalling Distributed Computing Cluster does not remove it from Add/Remove Programs in Windows. The product is nevertheless successfully uninstalled, and can be manually removed from the Add/Remove Programs list. This also does not affect the ability to reinstall Distributed Computing Cluster. (159630)