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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
2K views

XnView User Manual

XnView is an efficient multimedia viewer, browser and converter. Supports more than 500 image formats. XnView is provided as FREEWARE (NO Adware, NO Spyware) .

Uploaded by

Angie
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 57

DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

DupScout
Duplicate Files Finder

User Manual

Version 4.5

Oct 2012

Flexense Ltd.
www.flexense.com
www.dupscout.com

1
DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

1 Product Overview................................................................................................3

2 DupScout Product Versions .................................................................................4

3 Using Desktop Product Versions .........................................................................5

3.1 Product Installation Procedure .............................................................................5


3.2 Detecting Duplicate Files in a Directory .................................................................6
3.3 Selecting Duplicate Files Cleanup Actions ..............................................................7
3.4 Executing Duplicate Files Cleanup Actions..............................................................8
3.5 Using File Categories and File Filters .....................................................................9
3.6 Showing Duplicate Files Pie Charts ..................................................................... 10
3.7 Saving HTML, Excel CSV, Text or XML Reports ..................................................... 11
3.8 Customizing HTML Reports ................................................................................ 12
3.9 Exporting PDF Reports ...................................................................................... 13
3.10 Exporting Reports to an SQL Database................................................................ 14
3.11 Analyzing Duplicate Files on Multiple Hosts .......................................................... 15
3.12 Analyzing Duplicate Files Owned by Multiple Users ............................................... 16
3.13 Duplicate Files History Charts ............................................................................ 17
3.14 Automatic Report Management .......................................................................... 18
3.15 Rule-Based Duplicate Files Removal Actions......................................................... 19
3.16 Processing Network Shares Using UNC Path Names .............................................. 20
3.17 Excluding Specific Subdirectories........................................................................ 20
3.18 Detecting Duplicate Files in One or More Servers.................................................. 21
3.19 Detecting Duplicates in All Servers on the Network ............................................... 21
3.20 Processing Specific File Types or File Categories ................................................... 22
3.21 Duplicate Files Detection Performance Options ..................................................... 22
3.22 Advanced Duplicate Files Search Options............................................................. 23
3.23 Windows Shell Extension ................................................................................... 24
3.24 Sound Notifications........................................................................................... 25
3.25 Customizing DupScout GUI Application ............................................................... 26
3.26 Using DupScout GUI Layouts ............................................................................. 27
3.27 DupScout Command Line Utility ......................................................................... 28
3.28 Product Update Procedure ................................................................................. 30
3.29 Registering DupScout Pro .................................................................................. 31

4 Using DupScout Server .....................................................................................32

4.1 DupScout Server Overview ................................................................................ 32


4.2 Product Installation Procedure ........................................................................... 33
4.3 Initial Product Configuration .............................................................................. 34
4.4 Managing Duplicate Files Search Commands ........................................................ 35
4.5 Duplicate Files Search Results............................................................................ 36
4.6 Removing Duplicate Files................................................................................... 38
4.7 Duplicate Files Search Reports ........................................................................... 39
4.8 Processing Specific File Categories...................................................................... 40
4.9 Automatic Duplicate Files Removal Actions .......................................................... 41
4.10 Periodic Duplicate Files Search and Removal........................................................ 42
4.11 Searching Duplicates in Network Shares.............................................................. 43
4.12 Configuring DupScout Server ............................................................................. 44
4.13 Configuring Custom User Name and Password ..................................................... 44
4.14 Configuring Custom Server Ports........................................................................ 45
4.15 Configuring E-Mail Notifications .......................................................................... 45
4.16 Configuring SQL Database Integration ................................................................ 46
4.17 Updating DupScout Server ................................................................................ 47
4.18 Registering DupScout Server ............................................................................. 48

5 Appendix...........................................................................................................49

5.1 Installing MySQL Database ................................................................................ 49


5.2 Configuring MySQL Database ............................................................................. 54
5.3 Configuring MySQL ODBC Data Source................................................................ 55
5.4 Configuring DupScout Database Connection......................................................... 56
5.5 Supported Operating Systems............................................................................ 57
5.6 System Requirements ....................................................................................... 57

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

1 Product Overview
DupScout is a duplicate files search and removal solution allowing one to detect duplicate files
in disks, directories, network shares or NAS storage devices. The user is provided with the
ability to review detected duplicate files, generate reports, replace duplicate files with
shortcuts or hard links, move duplicate files to another directory, compress and move
duplicates or delete all duplicate files.

DupScout allows one to export HTML, text, Excel CSV, PDF and XML reports. Advanced users
are provided with the ability to export reports from multiple servers to a centralized SQL
database and perform trend analysis operations. In addition, DupScout Ultimate provides a
command line utility allowing one to perform automated duplicate files search and removal
operations using one or more preconfigured XML profiles.

Finally, enterprises and computer professionals are provided with a server-based product
version, named DupScout Server, which runs in the background as a service and provides a
web-based management interface allowing one configure fully automated, periodic duplicate
files search and removal operations.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

2 DupScout Product Versions

Features Free Pro Ultimate Server

Maximum Number of Files 500K 5M 50M 500M

Maximum Storage Capacity 2T 20T 200T 2000T

Maximum Number of Profiles 3 10 100 1000

Support for Unicode File Names Yes Yes Yes Yes

Support for Long File Names Yes Yes Yes Yes

Support for UNC Network Path Names Yes Yes Yes Yes

Pie Charts and Bars Charts Yes Yes Yes Yes

Option to Delete Duplicate Files Yes Yes Yes Yes

Option to Move Duplicates to a Directory Yes Yes Yes Yes

Option to Replace Duplicates with Links No Yes Yes Yes

Option to Process Specific File Types No Yes Yes Yes

Multi-Threaded Duplicate Files Detection No Yes Yes Yes

HTML, Text and Excel CSV Reports No Yes Yes Yes

Performance Tuning Options No Yes Yes Yes

Dynamic Speed Control No Yes Yes Yes

Rule-Based Duplicates Removal Actions No No Yes Yes

Unattended Duplicates Removal Capabilities No No Yes Yes

SQL Database Integration No No Yes Yes

Analyze Duplicate Files per Host No No Yes Yes

Analyze Duplicate Files per User No No Yes Yes

Duplicate Files History Charts No No Yes Yes

Command Line Utility No No Yes Yes

Runs as a Service in the Background No No No Yes

Periodic Duplicate Files Search Operations No No No Yes

Web-Based Management Interface No No No Yes

License Free $10 $50 $125

* Product features, prices and license terms are subject to change without notice.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3 Using Desktop Product Versions


3.1 Product Installation Procedure

DupScout is available as a free download on our web site and from a large number of software
directories from around the world. To be sure you are getting the latest product version check
here: http://www.dupscout.com/downloads.html

DupScout is especially designed to be as simple as possible. The installation procedure is very


simple, requires no special knowledge and may be completed in less than 20 seconds. There is
no need for any additional software. Just download the DupScout installation package, run the
setup program and you are done.

On the 'Welcome' screen press the 'Next' button. Read the end-user license agreement and
press the 'I Agree' button if you agree with the license terms or the 'Cancel' button to stop the
installation process.

Select the destination directory, press the 'Install' button and wait for the installation process
to complete. That's all you need to do to install the DupScout duplicate files finder utility on
your computer.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.2 Detecting Duplicate Files in a Directory

The simplest way to find duplicate files in a directory is to press the 'Duplicates' button located
in the top-left corner of the main toolbar. On the profile dialog enter one or more disks or
directories to search in and press the 'Search' button to begin the search process.

Depending on the amount of files that should be searched, the duplicate files detection
process may take from a couple of seconds for tens of files to a few hours for large file
systems containing millions of files. During the duplicate files detection process, DupScout will
display the process dialog showing the total amount of processed files, the number of detected
duplicate files and the amount of the wasted storage space.

Once the detection process is completed, DupScout will display the list of all detected duplicate
file sets sorted by the amount of the wasted storage space. For each duplicate file set,
DupScout shows the name of the currently selected original file, the currently selected cleanup
action, the number of duplicate files in the set, the size of each file and the amount of storage
space wasted by the duplicate files.

Sometimes, there may be thousands of duplicate files and in order to help the user
concentrate on the duplicate files wasting significant amounts of storage space, DupScout by
default shows top 10000 duplicate file sets sorted by the amount of the wasted storage space.
In order to change the default amount of displayed duplicate file sets, open the profile dialog,
select the 'Advanced' tab and set the 'Max Dup File Sets' option to an appropriate value.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.3 Selecting Duplicate Files Cleanup Actions

DupScout allows one to select original files that should be kept in place and cleanup duplicate
files thus freeing up wasted storage space. The user is provided with the ability to delete
selected duplicate files or to move them to another directory or a backup disk. In addition,
DupScout Pro allows one to replace duplicate files with links to the original file in each specific
duplicate files set.

In order to select an appropriate duplicates cleanup action, select one or more duplicate file
sets, press the right mouse button and select the required duplicates cleanup action. By
default, DupScout selects the oldest file in each duplicate file set as the original file. In
addition, the user is provided with the ability to select any arbitrary file in each file set as the
original file.

The set dialog shows all duplicate files in a set and allows one to manually select a cleanup
action and the original file for the set. In order to manually change the original file for a
duplicate files set, click on the set item in the set list, select the file that should be set as the
original file, press the right mouse button and select the 'Set as Original' menu item.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.4 Executing Duplicate Files Cleanup Actions

In order to minimize accidental removals of important files, DupScout implements a three-


stage cleanup process with an actions preview dialog allowing one to carefully select and
confirm cleanup actions that should be executed. Once finished selecting duplicate files that
should be removed and cleanup actions to be used for each specific duplicate files set, press
the 'Preview' button located on the main toolbar.

The actions preview dialog will display a list of all cleanup actions that should be performed
and allow one to select/unselect each specific cleanup action. After carefully reviewing all the
selected cleanup actions, press the 'Execute' button to actually cleanup all the selected
duplicate files.

Typically, there are lots of duplicate files in the Windows system directory, which are critical
for the proper operation of the operating system. All duplicate files located in the Windows
system directory and other application specific directories cannot be removed and it is highly
recommended to avoid touching these files.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.5 Using File Categories and File Filters

DupScout allows one to categorize detected duplicate files by the file extension, file type, size,
user name, last assess time, last modification time and file creation time. After finishing
scanning the specified disks or directories, DupScout performs automatic file categorization
and fills the list of detected file categories, which is located just under the list of the duplicate
file sets in the main GUI application.

By default, DupScout categorizes all files by the file extension and shows a list of all types of
detected file extensions sorted by the amount of used disk space. For each category,
DupScout shows the number of files, the amount of used disk space and the percentage of the
used disk space relative to other file categories. Use the 'Categories' combo box to categorize
files by the file type, last access time, last modification time or creation time.

One of the most useful features of DupScout is the ability to browse duplicates by one or more
specific file categories using file filters. For example, in order to see all files that were accessed
2-3 months ago, select the access time-based file categorization mode and double-click on the
'Files Last Accessed 2-3 Months Ago' file category. DupScout will filter the currently displayed
list of duplicates and show all sets that were accessed 2-3 months ago.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.6 Showing Duplicate Files Pie Charts

The DupScout duplicate files finder provides multiple types of pie charts capable of showing
the number of duplicates and the amount of wasted disk space per extension, file type, file
size, file owner, last access time, modification time and creation time. In order to open the
charts dialog, press the 'Charts' button located on the main toolbar.

By default, the charts dialog shows the amount of wasted disk space and the number of
duplicates for the currently selected second-level file category. For example, in order to open a
pie chart showing the amount of wasted disk space per extension, select the 'Categorize by
Extension' second-level file category and open the charts dialog.

In addition, the charts dialog provides the user with the ability to copy the displayed chart
image to the clipboard allowing one to easily integrate DupScout charts into user's documents
and presentations. In order to customize the chart's description, press the 'Options' button
and specify a custom chart date, time or title.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.7 Saving HTML, Excel CSV, Text or XML Reports

DupScout Pro provides power computer users with the ability to export duplicate files reports
to the HTML, Excel CSV, text and XML formats. In order to export a duplicate files report,
analyze one or more disks or directories and press the 'Report' button located on the main
toolbar.

On the 'Report' dialog enter the report title, specify the file name to save the report to and
select one of the following report formats: HTML, Excel CSV or ASCII text. By default,
DupScout will save a duplicate files report containing top 1000 duplicate file sets sorted by the
amount of wasted storage space.

In order to export a full report containing all detected duplicate file sets, enter an appropriate
number of duplicate file sets to export on the right side of the report format selector. Keep in
mind that reports for large file systems containing millions of files may be very large and
difficult to open using standard tools especially when exported to the HTML format.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.8 Customizing HTML Reports

IT professionals and system administrators are provided with the ability to customize HTML
reports generated by the DupScout GUI application and the command line duplicate files finder
utility. In order to customize HTML reports, open the 'Options' dialog, select the 'General' tab
and select the 'Use Custom HTML Report Header and Footer' option.

Now, navigate to the 'DupScout/templates' directory, open the 'report_header.html' and/or


the 'report_footer.html' template files using a standard text editor and specify custom CSS
styles, logos, etc. to be used in DupScout duplicate files HTML reports.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.9 Exporting PDF Reports

DupScout Pro and DupScout Ultimate allow one to export detected duplicate files to PDF
reports. In order to export a PDF report, search duplicate files in one or more disks, directories
or network shares and press the 'Save' button located on the main toolbar.

On the save report dialog, select the PDF report format, enter a report title, enter the name of
the file to save the report to and press the 'Save' button. By default, DupScout exports the top
10,000 duplicate file sets sorted by the amount of the wasted disk space. In order to export a
full report, which may result in a very long PDF document, just increase the number of
exported duplicate files sets to an appropriate number.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.10 Exporting Reports to an SQL Database

DupScout Ultimate provides the ability to submit duplicate files reports into a centralized SQL
database through the ODBC database interface. Reports may be submitted to an SQL
database using the main GUI application or the command line utility, which may be used to
perform periodic duplicates detection operations on multiple servers or desktop computers
while submitting all reports to a centralized SQL database.

The report database dialog displays reports that were submitted to the database and allows
one to search reports by the report title, host name, date or directories that were processed.
For each report in the database, DupScout displays the report date, time, host name,
directories that were processed, the amount of files and storage space the report refers to and
the report title. In order to open a report, just click on the report item in the report database
dialog.

In order to connect DupScout to an SQL database, the user is required to define an ODBC data
source in the computer where DupScout is installed on and to specify the ODBC data source in
the DupScout options dialog. Open the options dialog, select the 'Database' tab, enable the
ODBC interface and specify a valid user name and password to connect DupScout to an SQL
database.

In order to export a report to an SQL database, press the 'Save' button on the results dialog
and select the 'SQL Database' format. In addition, the user is provided with the ability to use
the command line utility, which is available in DupScout Ultimate, to export reports to an SQL
database.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.11 Analyzing Duplicate Files on Multiple Hosts

DupScout Ultimate provides the ability to submit duplicate files reports from multiple servers
and desktop computers into a centralized SQL database, analyze reports and display various
types of charts showing the amount of duplicate disk space and the number of duplicates per
host allowing one to gain an in-depth visibility into amounts of duplicate files across the entire
enterprise.

In order to analyze reports from multiple hosts, the user needs to connect DupScout to an
SQL Database, perform duplicate files search on multiple hosts using the DupScout GUI
application or the DupScout command line utility and submit reports from all hosts to the SQL
database. Once reports from all hosts are in the database, open the ‘Database’ dialog and
press the ‘Hosts’ button to open the ‘Hosts Statistics’ dialog.

dupscout -analyze -dir \\server\share -host <Host Name> -save_to_database

The simplest way to submit reports from multiple servers or desktop computers is to use the
DupScout command line utility to detect duplicate files on all required hosts through the
network. In order to simplify submission of reports to the SQL database, the command line
utility may be executed on the same host where the SQL database is installed on. In this case,
the user needs to specify one or more network shares to be processed and the host name to
be set for each report.

dupscout -analyze -dir <Local Directory> -save_report <File Name>

Another option is to execute the command line utility on each specific host, save duplicate files
reports and later submit report files from all hosts to the SQL database using the DupScout
GUI application. In this case, there is no need to set the host name, which will be set
automatically to the name of the host the command line utility is executed on.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.12 Analyzing Duplicate Files Owned by Multiple Users

DupScout Ultimate provides the ability to analyze duplicate files owned by multiple users and
detected on one or more servers or desktop computers and display charts showing the amount
of wasted disk space and the number of duplicate files per user.

Important: By default, processing and display of user names is disabled. In order to


enable this capability, open the options dialog and enable this option.

In order to analyze duplicate files per user, connect DupScout Ultimate to an SQL Database
and submit reports containing duplicates owned by multiple users to the SQL database using
the DupScout GUI application or the DupScout command line utility. Once reports are in the
database, open the ‘Database’ dialog and press the ‘Users’ button to open the ‘Users Statistics’
dialog.

dupscout -analyze -dir \\server\share -host <Host Name> -save_to_database

The simplest way to submit reports from multiple servers or desktop computers is to use the
DupScout command line utility to detect duplicate files on all required hosts through the
network. In order to simplify submission of reports to the SQL database, the command line
utility may be executed on the same host where the SQL database is installed on. In this case,
the user needs to specify one or more network shares to be processed and the host name to
be set for each report.

dupscout -analyze -dir <Local Directory> -save_report <File Name>

Another option is to execute the command line utility on each specific host, save duplicate files
reports and later submit report files from all hosts to the SQL database using the DupScout
GUI application. In this case, there is no need to set the host name, which will be set
automatically to the name of the host the command line utility is executed on.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.13 Duplicate Files History Charts

IT and storage administrators are provided with the ability to display history charts showing
how the number of duplicate files and the amount of wasted disk space in one or more servers
or desktop computers are changing over time.

In order to display a history chart, save a series of reports to an SQL database, open the SQL
reports dialog and press the 'History' button. A series of reports may be exported to an SQL
database manually using the DupScout GUI application or automatically using the DupScout
command line utility.

dupscout -analyze -dir <Local Directory> -save_to_database

The DupScout command line utility allows one to detect duplicate files in one or more disks or
directories and save a report to an SQL database. In order to generate reports for multiple
servers or desktop computers through the network, the user needs to specify one or more
network shares that should be processed using the UNC notation and set an appropriate host
name for each report saved to the database.

dupscout -analyze -dir \\server\share -host <Host Name> -save_to_database

Finally, the command line utility may be used in conjunction with the standard Windows task
scheduler to periodically detect duplicate files in one or more servers or desktop computers,
save reports to a centralized SQL database and generate history charts showing how the
number of duplicate files and the wasted disk space are changing over time.

The history charts dialog displays the list of available charts, the list of host computers where
the charts were generated on and extended statistical information for each chart. The user is
provided with the ability to filter charts by the host name, location, report label, etc. allowing
one to select an appropriate history chart. In addition, the charts dialog allows one to change
the chart's title and footer, export the chart's image to the clipboard making it very easy to
integrate DupScout history charts in user's custom reports and presentations.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.14 Automatic Report Management

DupScout allows one to keep a user-specified number of reports in the reports directory or the
reports SQL database while automatically deleting old reports and freeing up the disk space.
These features are especially useful for fully automated duplicate files detection operations
when the user needs to keep a history of report files in a reports directory or a history of
reports in an SQL database.

By default, DupScout keeps all reports in the reports directory or the SQL database. In order
to enable automatic report management, open the 'Options' dialog, select the 'Reports' tab
and change the 'Report Files' or 'Report Database' options to appropriate values.

The 'Report Files' option is applicable to HTML, text, Excel CSV, XML and DupScout native
reports saved to a reports directory or to the user's home directory using the DupScout
command line utility. After saving each new report, DupScout will check if there are too many
reports of the same type (HTML, XML, CSV, etc.) in the reports directory and delete old
reports according to the user-specified configuration.

The 'Report Database' option is applicable to reports submitted to an SQL database using
the DupScout GUI application or the DupScout command line utility. After saving each new
report to the database, DupScout will check if there are too many reports from the same host
computer, for the same set of disks or directories and delete old reports according to the user-
specified configuration. For example, if reports from two different servers are submitted to the
same SQL database, DupScout will keep in the database X last reports for each server.

The 'File Categories' option allows one to enable/disable exporting of file categories to HTML,
text, Excel CSV and XML reports. Second-level file categories are available when reports are
saved using the DupScout GUI application manually. Automatically generated reports or
reports saved using the DupScout command line utility always saved without file categories.
When the 'File Categories' option is enabled, DupScout GUI application will save second-level
file categories to HTML, text, Excel CSV and XML reports.

The 'Compressed Reports' option allows one to save automatically generated HTML, text,
Excel CSV and XML reports as compressed archive files.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.15 Rule-Based Duplicate Files Removal Actions

DupScout Ultimate provides power computer users and IT professionals with the ability to
define multiple, rule-based duplicate files removal actions capable of automatically detecting
the original file and selecting an appropriate duplicates removal action for each specific
duplicate files set according to the user-defined rules and policies.

In order to add one or more duplicates removal actions, open the profile dialog, select the
'Actions' tab and press the 'Add' button. By default, the 'Action' dialog shows basic options
allowing one to select the original file detection mode and the removal action that should be
used for all successfully matched duplicate file sets.

More advanced options may be enabled by pressing the 'More Options' button, which is
located in the bottom-left corner of the dialog. In the advanced mode, the dialog allows one to
define one or more file matching rules that should be used in order to detect the type of
duplicate files that should be processed by this specific duplicates removal action.

In order to apply different duplicate files removal actions for different types of files, specify
multiple, rule-based removal actions and select an appropriate actions mode. In the 'Select
Actions' mode, DupScout will scan the specified input disks or directories, select the defined
removal actions for all duplicate file sets matching the specified rules and show an actions
preview dialog allowing one to review the selected actions before execution. Another option is
to set the actions mode to 'Execute' and to use the DupScout command line utility to execute
the specified duplicate files removal actions fully automatically in an unattended mode.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.16 Processing Network Shares Using UNC Path Names

In order to simplify detection of duplicate files in networked computers and/or NAS storage
devices, DupScout allows one to specify directories that should be processed using UNC path
names without mounting each network share as a local disk.

Multiple UNC path names (separated by the semicolon character) may be entered into the
directories entry located under the main toolbar or permanently specified in the profile dialog.
Duplicate files detected using UNC path names will be prefixed with an appropriate
server/share name according to the location of each specific duplicate file. When working with
UNC path names, it is important to keep in mind that all cleanup actions will be performed
using UNC path names and the user should have appropriate permissions on each specific
network share and/or NAS storage device.

3.17 Excluding Specific Subdirectories

Sometimes, it may be required to exclude one or more subdirectories from the duplicate files
detection process. For example, if you need to find all duplicate files on a disk excluding one
or two special directories, you may specify the whole disk as an input directory and add the
directories that should be skipped to the exclude list.

In order to add one or more directories to the exclude list, press the 'Manage Profile' button to
open the profile dialog, select the 'Exclude' tab and press the 'Add' button. All files and
subdirectories located in the specified exclude directory will be excluded from the duplicate
files detection process. Keep in mind that exclude directories are case sensitive and should be
specified with the same case as stored on the disk. Select an exclude directory and press the
'Delete' button, to remove the selected directory from the exclude list.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.18 Detecting Duplicate Files in One or More Servers

DupScout allows one to detect duplicate files in all network shares of one or more servers or
NAS storage devices on the network. In order to detect duplicates in one or more servers,
open the profile dialog, select the 'Search Servers and NAS Devices' locations mode and enter
one or more host names or IP addresses separated by the semicolon (;) character.

DupScout will discover network shares available in the specified servers and show a network
share list dialog allowing one to select the network shares that should be processed. In order
to be able to use this feature, the user needs to have permissions to access network shares.

3.19 Detecting Duplicates in All Servers on the Network

Another option is to detect duplicate files in all servers and/or NAS storage devices available
on the network. In order to detect duplicates in all servers on the network, open the profile
dialog and select the 'Search All Servers on the Network' locations mode. DupScout will
discover all servers and NAS storage devices connected to the network and display a dialog
showing all the accessible network shares.

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DupScout – Duplicate Files Finder Flexense Ltd.

3.20 Processing Specific File Types or File Categories

DupScout Pro provides power computer users with the ability to detect duplicate files among
specific file types according to the specified file matching rules. For example, the user may
specify to find duplicate files among music and audio files with the file size more than 2 MB.

In order to add one or more file matching rules, open the profile dialog, select the 'Rules' tab
and press the 'Add' button. On the 'Rules' dialog select an appropriate rule type and specify all
the required parameters. During the duplicates detection process, DupScout Pro will process
all the entered input directories and apply the specified file matching rules to all the existing
files. Files not matching the specified rules will be skipped from the duplicate files detection
process and the results list will contain user-selected files only.

3.21 Duplicate Files Detection Performance Options

Sometimes, it may be required to detect duplicate files on production systems with many
running applications. In order to minimize the performance impact on the running
applications, DupScout Pro provides the ability to execute duplicate files detection operations
at various speed levels. In order to change the speed of a duplicate files detection operation,
open the profile dialog, select the 'Performance' tab and select an appropriate performance
mode in the 'Speed' combo box.

In order to enable multi-threaded duplicate files detection for a profile, open the profile dialog,
select the 'Performance' tab and set an appropriate number of processing threads. Take into
account that multi-threaded duplicate files detection capabilities are optimized for powerful
multi-core/multi-CPU systems when processing large amounts of files located on fast storage
devices and it is not recommended to use it on single-core/single-CPU computers.

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3.22 Advanced Duplicate Files Search Options

By default, DupScout detects duplicate files using generic settings, which should be
appropriate for most users. In addition, power computer users are provided with a number of
configuration options allowing one to customize duplicates detection process for user specific
needs.

In order to customize the duplicates detection process, open the profile dialog and select the
'Advanced' options tab. The advanced options tab allows one to control the default report title,
the type of the signature used to detect duplicate files, the maximum number of duplicate file
sets to report about and the file scanning filter, which may be used to limit the duplicate files
detection process to specific file types.

Report Title - this parameter sets the default report title to use when exporting HTML, Excel
CSV or text reports.

Signature Type - this parameter sets the type of the algorithm that should be used to
compare files: MD5, SHA1 or SHA256. The SHA256 algorithm is the most reliable one and it is
used by default. The MD5 and SHA1 algorithms are significantly faster, but less reliable.

Max Dup File Sets - this parameter controls the maximum number of duplicate file sets
displayed in the results list. After finishing the search process, DupScout will sort all the
detected duplicate file sets by the amount of the wasted storage space and display the top X
duplicate file sets as specified by this parameter (default is 1000).

File Scanning Filter - this parameter (DupScout Pro only) allows one to specify a file
scanning filter to be used during the duplicate files search. The file scanning filter provides the
user with the ability to limit the duplicates search process to a specific file type or a custom
file set matching the specified file scanning filter. For example, in order to search for duplicate
JPEG images only, set the file scanning filter to '*.jpg'. This file scanning filter will match all
files with the extension JPG (JPEG Images) and skip all other files.

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3.23 Windows Shell Extension

DupScout provides a Windows shell extension allowing one to search duplicate files directly
from the Windows Explorer application. In order to search duplicates in one or more disks or
directories, select the required disks or directories in the Windows Explorer application, press
the right mouse button and select the 'DupScout - Find Duplicates' menu.

In most cases, the Windows shell extension is a very useful feature, but sometimes, when the
user have too many installed shell extensions, the Windows context menu may become too
cluttered. In order to remove the DupScout entry from the Windows context menu, open the
options dialog, select the 'General' tab and disable the Windows shell extension.

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3.24 Sound Notifications

DupScout provides the ability to play notification sounds when a duplicate files search
operation is started, completed or failed. In addition, the user is provided with the ability to
enable, disable or customize all types of sound notifications.

In order to open the 'Notification Sounds' dialog, select the 'Tools - Notification Sounds' menu
item. The 'Notifications Sounds' dialog shows all the available sound notifications and allows
one to enable or disable specific sound notifications.

In order to select a custom notification sound file, click on a notification sound item in the
sounds list and select a custom WAV file. In order to play a notification sound, select the
required notification sound in the sounds list and press the 'Play' button.

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3.25 Customizing DupScout GUI Application

Select the 'Tools - Advanced Options' menu item to open the options dialog.

The 'General' tab allows one to control the following options:

• Show Main Toolbar - Enables/Disables the main toolbar


• Always Show Profile Dialog Before Start - Instructs DupScout to always show the
profile dialog before starting the duplicate files search process.
• Auto-Close Successfully Completed Tasks - select this option to automatically close the
process dialog and show duplicate file list.
• Automatically Check For Product Updates - select this option to instruct DupScout to
automatically check for available product updates.
• Show Scanning Access Denied Errors - select this option to see error messages when
DupScout is prevented to scan files in a directory
• Process System Files - select this option to detect duplicate files among system files.
• Abort Operation On Critical Errors - by default DupScout is trying to process as many
files as possible logging non-fatal errors in a process log. Select this option to instruct
DupScout to abort operation when encountering a critical error.

The 'Shortcuts' tab provides the user with the ability to customize keyboard shortcuts. Click
on a shortcut item to edit the currently assigned key sequence. Press the 'Default Shortcuts'
button to reset all keyboard shortcuts to default values.

The 'Proxy' tab provides the user with the ability to configure the HTTP proxy settings.
DupScout uses the HTTP protocol in order to inquire whether there is a new product version
available on the web site.

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3.26 Using DupScout GUI Layouts

In order to improve GUI usability, the DupScout main GUI application provides three user-
selectable GUI layouts. Press the 'Layouts' button to switch the GUI application to the next
GUI layout.

The first (default) GUI layout displays large toolbar buttons with descriptive text labels under
each button and shows the directories entry and the profiles combo box under the main
toolbar. The second GUI layout displays small toolbar buttons with descriptive text labels
beside each button and shows the directories entry and the profiles combo box under the main
toolbar.

The third GUI layout displays small toolbar buttons without descriptive text labels and shows
the directories entry and the profiles combo box as a single toolbar.

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3.27 DupScout Command Line Utility

In addition to the GUI application, DupScout Ultimate includes a command line utility allowing
one to execute duplicate files search and removal operations from an OS shell window. The
DupScout command line utility provides power users and system administrators with the
ability to integrate duplicate files detection capabilities into batch files and shell scripts. The
command line utility is located in the ‘<ProductDir>/bin’ directory.

Command Line Syntax:

dupscout -execute <Profile Name>

This command executes the specified duplicate files detection profile.

dupscout -analyze -dir <Directory 1> [ ... Directory X ]

This command detects duplicate files in the specified directories, disks or network shares.

dupscout -analyze -server <HostName1;HostName2;HostNameX>

This command detects duplicate files in all network shares in the specified servers and/or NAS
storage devices.

dupscout -analyze -network

This command detects duplicate files in all network shares in all servers on the network.

Parameters:

-dir <Directory>

This parameter specifies an input directory, disk or a network share for the duplicate files
detection command. In order to ensure proper parsing of command line arguments, directories
containing space characters should be double quoted.

-server <Host Name or IP Address>

This parameter specifies a host name or an IP address of the server or NAS storage device
that should be processed. Multiple host names or IP addresses should be separated by the
semicolon (;) character.

Options:

-save_html_report [ File Name ]

This option saves an HTML report to the specified file.

-save_text_report [ File Name ]

This option saves a text report to the specified file.

-save_csv_report [ File Name ]

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This option saves an Excel CSV report to the specified file.

-save_xml_report [ File Name ]

This option saves an XML report to the specified file.

-save_pdf_report [ File Name ]

This option saves a PDF report to the specified file.

-save_report [ File Name ]

This option saves a native DupScout report file.

-save_to_database

This option saves a report to an SQL Database through the ODBC interface configured on the
DupScout GUI options dialog.

-title <Report Title>

This optional parameter specifies a custom report title.

-label <Report Label>

This optional parameter specifies a custom report label.

-max_sets <Maximum Number of Sets to Export>

This parameter sets the maximum number of duplicate file sets to export (default is 10,000).

-perf <FULL | MEDIUM | LOW>

This parameter controls the speed of the duplicate files detection process.

FULL - Full-speed duplicate files detection


MEDIUM - Medium-speed duplicate files detection
LOW - Low-speed duplicate files detection

-streams <1 ... 16>

This parameter specifies the number of parallel duplicate files detection threads.

-compress

This parameter instructs to export a GZ compressed report.

-v

This command shows the product’s major version, minor version, revision and build date.

-help

This command shows the command line usage information.

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3.28 Product Update Procedure

Almost every month, Flexense releases bug-fixes and product updates for the DupScout
duplicate files finder. These product updates are uploaded to our web site and may be applied
to any installed product version. Each time DupScout is started, the update manager checks if
there is a new product version available. If there is a new product update available, the user
will see an 'Update' link in the right-most corner of the status bar.

In order to manually verify that the currently installed product version is up-to-date, select
menu 'Help - Check For Updates' on the main menu bar. The update manager will connect to
the update server and check if there is a newer version of the product available for download.
If there is a new product version available, the update dialog will show the version of the new
product update and two links: the 'Release Notes' link and the 'Install' link. Click on the
'Release Notes' link to see more information about new features and bug-fixes provided by
this specific product version. Click on the 'Install' link to download and install the new product
version.

After clicking on the 'Install' link, please wait while the update manager will download the new
product version to the local disk. The update package will be downloaded to a temporary
directory on the system drive and automatically deleted after the update manager will finish
updating the product.

After download is completed, close all open DupScout applications and press the 'Ok' button
when ready. If one or more DupScout applications will be open during the update, the
operation will fail and the whole update process will need to be restarted from the beginning.
After finishing the update process, DupScout will show a message box informing about the
successfully completed operation.

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3.29 Registering DupScout Pro

DupScout Pro licenses and discounted license packs may be purchased on the following page:
http://www.dupscout.com/purchase.html

After finishing the purchase process, wait for the following two e-mail messages: the first one
with a receipt for your payment and the second one with an unlock key. If you will not receive
your unlock key within 24 hours, please check your spam box for e-mail messages originating
from [email protected] and if it is nor here contact our support team.

After you will receive your unlock key, start the DupScout GUI application and press the
'Register' button located in the top-right corner of the window.

On the register dialog, enter your name and the received unlock key and press the 'Register'
button to finish the registration procedure.

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4 Using DupScout Server


4.1 DupScout Server Overview

DupScout Server is a server-based duplicate files search and removal solution, which runs in
the background as a service and provides a web-based GUI interface allowing one to connect
to the server using a regular web browser, configure duplicate files search operations, review
detected duplicate files, generate reports, remove duplicate files or schedule fully automatic,
periodic duplicate files search and removal operations.

DupScout Server allows one to configure an unlimited number of duplicate files search
operations, with each one capable of detecting duplicate files in one or more disks, directories,
network shares or NAS storage devices. The user is provided with the ability to review
detected duplicate files, generate HTML, PDF, text, CSV, XML reports or export reports from
multiple servers to a centralized SQL database for advanced trend analysis.

DupScout Server provides a large number of duplicate files removal options including the
ability to replace duplicates with shortcuts or hard links, move duplicates to another directory,
compress and move duplicates or delete all duplicate files. In addition, users are provided with
the ability to schedule periodic operations capable of detecting duplicate files, generating
reports and/or executing duplicate files removal actions fully automatically according to user-
specified rules and policies.

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4.2 Product Installation Procedure

DupScout Server is especially designed to be as simple as possible. The product does not
require any third-party software applications and may be installed and configured within a
couple of minutes. A fully functional 30-days trial version of DupScout Server may be
downloaded from the following page: http://www.dupscout.com/downloads.html.

The installation package is very small, 2MB - 3MB depending on the target operating system,
and the product requires just 10MB of the free disk space on the target server. In order to
install DupScout Server, start the setup program, select a destination directory and press the
'Next' button.

Optionally, enter custom server control and/or web access ports. The server control port is
used by the DupScout command line utility and the web access port is the port for the web-
based management interface allowing one to control DupScout Server using a standard web
browser. If DupScout Server should be controlled remotely through the network, make sure
one or both of these ports are open in the server's firewall.

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4.3 Initial Product Configuration

After finishing the installation procedure, open a regular web browser and login to the
DupScout Server web-based management interface using the default (admin/admin) user
name and password. The DupScout Server home page allows one to configure duplicate files
search and removal commands, review results and setup periodic jobs.

In order to add a new duplicate files search command, press the 'Add Command' button,
specify a unique command name, enter one or more directories to search in and if required
enter one or more directories that should be excluded from the search process. Once finished
configuring the duplicate files search command, press the 'Save' button.

In order to execute a duplicate files search command manually, just click on the command's
'Start' button located in the 'Tools' column. In order to configure the duplicate files search
command to be executed automatically at specific time intervals, press the 'Periodic Jobs'
button located on the DupScout Server home page and setup a periodic search job.

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4.4 Managing Duplicate Files Search Commands

DupScout Server allows one to configure multiple duplicate files search and removal
commands with each one capable of processing a number of disks, directories, network shares
or NAS storage devices. In order to add a new command, press the 'Add Command' button
located on the DupScout Server home page, specify a unique command name, enter one or
more disks, directories or network shares to search in and press the 'Save' button.

In addition, the user is provided with the ability to exclude one or more directories from the
duplicate files search process, add one or more file matching rules specifying which types of
files to search and/or add one or more automatic duplicate files removal actions allowing one
to select original files and duplicate files removal actions fully automatically according to user-
specified rules and policies.

Finally, users are provided with a number of advanced options allowing one to set a custom
report title, configure how many history reports to keep for each duplicate files search
command, select the performance and file scanning modes and/or automatically generate
HTML, PDF, XML, Excel CSV or text reports in a user-specified file or directory.

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4.5 Duplicate Files Search Results

In order to review detected duplicate files for a finished duplicate files search operation, just
click on the command name on the DupScout Server home page. The results page shows the
list of detected duplicate files sets sorted by the amount of wasted disk space. For each set of
duplicate files, DupScout Server shows the full name of the currently selected original file, the
currently selected removal action, the number of duplicate files in the set and the amount of
wasted disk space.

DupScout Server allows one to categorize and filter duplicate files by the file extension, file
type, size, user name, creation, last modification or last access date. The bottom part of the
duplicate files results page shows categories of duplicate files according to the currently
selected file categorization mode. In order to change the file categorization mode, click on the
file categories combo box and select the required file categorization mode.

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One of the most powerful capabilities of DupScout Server is the ability to filter duplicate files
using one or more file categories and select different types of duplicate files removal actions
for different groups of files. For example, select one or more file categories and press the ‘Set
Filter’ button to show duplicate files related to the selected categories. Now, press the ‘Select
Actions’ button to select a specific duplicate files removal action for the currently displayed
duplicate files.

The duplicate files results page allows one to save HTML, PDF, text, Excel CSV, XML reports or
export results to an SQL database. In order to save a report, press the ‘Save Report’ button,
select an appropriate report format and press the ‘Ok’ button. If no file filters are selected, all
duplicate files will be saved to the report. If one or more file filters are selected, the report will
include only the currently displayed duplicate files.

In order to view all duplicate files related to a set, click on the original file link in the set view.
The set page shows the list of duplicate files related to the set, the size of these files and the
last modification date for each file. By default, DupScout Server selects the oldest file in each
set as the original file. In order to select a different file as the original, click on the file icon.

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4.6 Removing Duplicate Files

DupScout Server allows one to replace duplicate files with shortcuts or hard links, move
duplicate files to another directory, compress and move duplicates or delete all duplicate files.
In order to select a duplicate files removal action for all duplicate file sets, open the report
page and press the 'Select' button located in the top-right corner. In order to select a different
duplicate files removal action for one or more specific duplicate file sets, open each set, press
the 'Select' button and select a removal action for each set of duplicate files.

WARNING: The Windows system directory contains many duplicate files, which are critical for
proper operation of the operating system and removal of any of these files may damage the
operating system and make it completely unusable.

Once finished selecting duplicate files removal actions, press the 'Execute' button located in
the top-right corner of the results page, press the 'Remove' button to confirm the operation
and wait for the duplicate files removal operation to complete.

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4.7 Duplicate Files Search Reports

For each duplicate files search operation, DupScout Server saves an individual duplicate files
report. In order to open the last report, just click on the required duplicate files search
command link displayed on the DupScout Server home page. In order to browse all reports,
press the 'Reports' button located on the DupScout Server home page.

By default, DupScout Server keeps a history of 10 last reports for each duplicate files search
command. Reports are saved in the reports directory, which may be configured on the
'Reports' settings page. In order to open a duplicate files report listed in the reports view, click
on the required report ID link.

DupScout Server provides the ability to export duplicate files reports to a number of standard
formats such as HTML, PDF, XML, Excel CSV and text. In order to export a report to one of the
standard formats, press the 'Save' button located in the top-right corner of the report view.

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4.8 Processing Specific File Categories

DupScout Server provides the ability to search duplicate files among specific types of files or
file categories using an extensive set of file matching rules capable of matching files by the file
name, extension, directory, file type, file size, creation, last modification or last access dates,
etc. In order to add one or more file matching rules to a duplicate files search command, open
the required command, press the 'Rules' button and press the 'Add Rule' button.

On the file matching rule page, select an appropriate rule type, select an operator, enter a rule
value and press the 'Save' button. DupScout Server allows one to add an unlimited number of
file matching rules to each duplicate files search command and apply the (AND) or (OR) logical
operators. For example, the user is provided with the ability to analyze all types of documents
with the file size more than X MB that were modified during the last month.

Finally, DupScout Server allows one to define multi-level, nested file matching rules with
different sets of rules and logic operators on each level capable of precisely selecting the
subset of files that should be processed.

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4.9 Automatic Duplicate Files Removal Actions

DupScout Server provides the ability to automatically select original files and duplicate files
removal actions according to user-specified rules and policies. In order to configure automatic
duplicate files removal actions, open a duplicate files search command and press the 'Actions'
button.

In order to add a new action, press the 'Add Action' button, set an appropriate original file
selection mode, select a duplicate files removal action and press the 'Add' button. In order to
edit a previously created duplicate files removal action, press the 'Edit' button located on the
right side of the 'Actions' page.

Initially, automatic duplicate files removal actions are created in the 'Select' mode allowing
one to review selected actions and make sure everything works as required. Once the
configuration is carefully tested, the duplicate files search command may be scheduled to be
started periodically and all configured duplicate files removal actions executed automatically.
In order to automatically execute configured duplicate files removal actions, open the
command page, press the 'Actions' button and set the actions mode to 'Execute'.

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4.10 Periodic Duplicate Files Search and Removal

DupScout Server allows one to setup a number of periodic jobs with each one configured to
perform one or more duplicate files search commands at specific time intervals. In order to
add a periodic duplicate files search job, press the 'Periodic Jobs' button located on the
DupScout Server home page and press the 'Add' button.

On the periodic job page, enter a unique periodic job name, specify the time interval and
select one or more duplicate files search commands to execute. In order to reduce the CPU
load and memory usage on the host, DupScout Server performs selected duplicate files search
operations sequentially, one after one while saving reports and executing automatic duplicate
files removal actions if required.

In addition, the user is provided with the ability to intentionally slow down duplicate files
search operations, in order to completely eliminate performance impact on production servers.
In order to slow down a duplicate files search command, open the command page, press the
'Options' button, select the 'Low Speed' performance mode and press the 'Save' button.

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4.11 Searching Duplicates in Network Shares

By default, the DupScout service is configured to run under the local system account, which is
good to search duplicates in local disks and directories. On the other hand, the local system
account does not have permissions to access network shares and NAS storage devices.

In order to enable DupScout Server to search duplicate files in network shares and NAS
storage devices, the DupScout service should be configured to run under a user account,
which has permissions to access files and directories located on the required network shares.

The configuration is very simple and may be performed within a couple of seconds using the
following step-by-step guide:

1. Open the Windows control panel and click on the 'Administrative Tools' utility.
2. Open the Services control center and find here the 'Dup Scout Server' service.
3. Open the 'Dup Scout Server' service, select the 'General' tab and stop the service.
4. Select the 'Log On' tab and specify a user account to use for the service.
5. Select the 'General' tab and start the 'Dup Scout Server' service.

Now, the DupScout service will run under the specified user account and will have exactly the
same permissions as the specified user account when accessing network shares and NAS
storage devices.

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4.12 Configuring DupScout Server

DupScout Server provides a variety of configuration options allowing one to easily integrate
the product into a user-specific network environment. In order to open the main settings
page, click on the 'Settings' link located on the top menu bar.

4.13 Configuring Custom User Name and Password

The DupScout Server web-based management console requires users to login with a DupScout
user name and password. The default user name and password is set to admin/admin. In
addition, DupScout Server provides the ability to set a custom user name and/or password for
the DupScout web-based management interface and the command line utility, which may be
used to automate configuration and management tasks.

In order to set a custom user name and password, click on the 'Configure Server Login' link
located on the main settings page, enter a new user name and password and press the 'Save'
button.

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4.14 Configuring Custom Server Ports

DupScout Server uses the TCP/IP port 9126 as the default server control port and the TCP/IP
port 80 as the default web access port. Sometimes, these ports may be in use by some other
software products or system services. If one or both of these ports are in use, DupScout
Server will be unable to operate properly and the user needs to change the DupScout server
control port and/or web access port.

In order to set a custom server control port and/or web access port, click on the 'Setup Server
Ports' link located on the main settings page, select the 'Use Custom Port' option and enter a
custom port number to use. If the DupScout server should be controlled through the network,
make sure the custom ports are open in the server's firewall.

4.15 Configuring E-Mail Notifications

DupScout Server provides the ability to send E-Mail notifications when a duplicate files search
command is failed. In order to configure an SMTP E-Mail server to use to send E-Mail
notifications, click on the 'Configure E-Mail Server' link located on the main settings page,
enter the SMTP server host name, SMTP server port, SMTP user name, password and the
source E-Mail address to use to send E-Mail notifications.

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4.16 Configuring SQL Database Integration

DupScout Server provides the ability to save duplicate files reports to an SQL database
allowing one to keep a history of reports for future review and analysis. In order to enable SQL
database export, open a duplicate files search command, press the 'Options' button, select the
'Always Save' checkbox, select the SQL database report format and press the 'Save' button.

DupScout Server exports SQL database reports through the ODBC database interface, which
should be configured to operate properly. In order to configure the ODBC database interface,
click on the 'Configure SQL Database' link located on the main settings page, enable the ODBC
database interface, specify the ODBC data source, ODBC user name and password to use to
save reports to the SQL database.

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4.17 Updating DupScout Server

Flexense develops DupScout Server using a fast release cycle with minor product versions,
updates and bug fixes released almost every month and major product versions released
every year. New product versions and product updates are published on the product web site
and may be downloaded from the following page: http://www.dupscout.com/downloads.html.

Due to the fact that the product is especially designed for servers running in production
environments where stability is a major decision factor, DupScout Server updates should be
manually installed by the user. In order to update an existing product installation, download
the latest product version and just start the setup program.

The DupScout Server setup program will properly shutdown the running DupScout service,
update the product and restart the DupScout service after finishing the update procedure. All
product configuration files, saved duplicate files search operations, duplicate files reports and
product registration will remain valid and there is nothing to reconfigure or manage after the
update.

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4.18 Registering DupScout Server

Within a couple of hours after purchasing a product license, the customer will receive two e-
mail messages: the first one confirming the payment and the second one containing an unlock
key, which should be used to register the product. If you will not receive your unlock key
within 24 hours, please check your spam box and if the unlock key is not in the spam box
contact our support team: [email protected].

If the computer where DupScout Server is installed on is connected to the Internet, login to
the DupScout server (default user name and password: admin/admin) using a standard web
browser, click on the 'About' link located on the top menu bar, press the 'Register' button,
enter your name or your company name, enter the received unlock key and press the
'Register' button.

If the computer is not connected to the Internet, press the 'Manual Registration' button,
export the product ID file and send the product ID file to [email protected] as an
attachment. Within a couple of hours, you will receive an unlock file, which should be imported
in order to finish the registration procedure.

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5 Appendix
5.1 Installing MySQL Database

DupScout Ultimate is capable of saving reports in an SQL database. Reports may be saved
manually or automatically using the DupScout command line utility periodically executed by
the Windows built-in task scheduler.

In order to configure DupScout to use the MySQL database, the user needs to install the
following two components: the MySQL Server and the MySQL ODBC connector. First of all,
let’s install the MySQL Server. Download the latest version of the MySQL server from the
MySQL web site and execute the setup program to start the installation procedure. On the
setup type page, select the ‘Typical’ setup type and press the ‘Next’ button. By default, the
setup will install the MySQL server and a command line utility, which will be used to configure
the MySQL server.

On the next setup page, select the ‘Configure the MySQL Server now’ option and press the
‘Finish’ button. The setup program will open a MySQL configuration wizard allowing one to
configure basic server settings.

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On the next setup page, select the ‘Detailed Configuration’ option and press the ‘Next’ button.
The detailed configuration mode is required to configure the MySQL server for maximum
database performance.

On the next page, select the ‘Server Machine’ option, which is the most balanced configuration
for typical DupScout workloads. If the server is intended to process large volumes of reports
and is dedicated for DupScout, select the ‘Dedicated Server’ configuration option.

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On the next page, select the ‘Non-Transactional Database’ option. DupScout does not perform
concurrent insert or modify operations on the database and a transactional database is not
required. Moreover, configuring the MySQL server as a non-transactional database will
significantly improve the performance of database import operations.

On the next page, select the ‘Manual Setting’ option and set the number of concurrent
database connections to 5, which is the optimal number for typical DupScout installations.

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On the next page, enable TCP/IP networking and if the server will be accessed from other
computers on the network, add a firewall exception for the MySQL server port. In general, a
single MySQL server may be used to collect reports from multiple DupScout installations using
remote ODBC connections.

On the next page select an appropriate character set. By default, DupScout uses the UTF-8
character set to store names of files and directories, but if there is no need to process Unicode
file names, this option may be set to the standard Latin1 character set.

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On the next page, select the ‘Install as Windows Service’ option and select the ‘Include Bin
Directory in Windows PATH’ option. The PATH option will enable execution of the MySQL
command line utility from any location.

On the next page, select the ‘Modify Security Settings’ option and specify a root password for
the MySQL server, which later will be used to configure regular MySQL users.

That’s all. Press the ‘Next’ button to finish the installation procedure.

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5.2 Configuring MySQL Database

The MySQL database provides the ‘mysql’ command line utility, which may be used to
configure the database and the user account to be used by DupScout.

In order to configure the MySQL database, open the command prompt window and type the
following command:

mysql –u root –p

This command will start the ‘mysql’ command line utility and login to the MySQL server with
root permissions. The user will be asked to provide the root password, which was specified
during the MySQL server installation procedure.

Once logged in, the user needs to create a database that will be used by DupScout to store
reports. In order to do that, type the following command:

create database dupscout;

Now, add a user account that will be used by DupScout to submit reports to the database.
Single quotes are required and should be specified exactly as displayed.

create user ‘dupscout’@’localhost’ identified by ‘password’;

Now, grant permissions to the user account using the following command:

grant all privileges on *.* to ‘dupscout’@’localhost’;

Finally, flush user privileges using the following command.

flush privileges;

That’s all. Now the MySQL server is fully configured. In order to disconnect from the MySQL
database, just type ‘quit’ in the command window.

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5.3 Configuring MySQL ODBC Data Source

DupScout connects to the MySQL database through the ODBC interface. Download an
appropriate version of the MySQL ODBC connector from the MySQL web site and execute the
setup program. There are no critical configuration options in the MySQL ODBC connector
installation procedure and the user can just press the ‘Next’ button until the last page keeping
the default configuration options.

After finished installing MySQL ODBC Connector, open the Windows control panel and select
‘Administrative Tools – Data Sources (ODBC)’. On the ODBC Administrator window, select the
‘System DSN’ tab and press the ‘Add’ button. On the next page, select the ‘MySQL ODBC
Driver’ and press the ‘Finish’ button.

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On the next page, enter a new data source name, which will be used by DupScout to connect
to the database. Specify the name of the host where the MySQL server is running on and
enter the MySQL user name and password that should be used by DupScout to connect to the
database. Finally, select the name of the database that should be used to store reports. After
finished specifying all the required information, press the ‘Test’ button to check the database
connection.

5.4 Configuring DupScout Database Connection

In order to configure DupScout to use the installed MySQL database, open the options dialog
and select the ‘Database’ tab. Enable the ODBC interface and enter the name of the ODBC
data source, the database user name and password that were specified for the ODBC data
source. Finally, press the ‘Verify’ button to check the DupScout database connection.

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5.5 Supported Operating Systems

32-Bit Operating Systems

• Windows 2000
• Windows XP
• Windows Vista
• Windows 7
• Windows Server 2003
• Windows Server 2008
• Windows Storage Server 2008

64-Bit Operating Systems

• Windows XP 64-Bit
• Windows Vista 64-Bit
• Windows 7 64-Bit
• Windows Server 2003 64-Bit
• Windows Server 2008 64-Bit
• Windows Storage Server 64-Bit

5.6 System Requirements

Minimal System Configuration

• Supported Operating System


• 1 GHz or better CPU
• 512 MB of system memory
• 25 MB of free disk space

Recommended System Configuration

• Supported Operating System


• 2+ GHz single-core or dual-core CPU
• 1 GB of system memory
• 25 MB of free disk space

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