Mass deployment

NVivo 12 Mac

This topic includes information about installation and activation of NVivo Mac across a network.

In this topic

• Installing NVivo Mac across a network

• Unattended activation

• Activation file format

• Unattended license replacement

• Unattended license deactivation

• Controlling Automatic Update Checks

Installing NVivo Mac across a network

You can install NVivo Mac across a network using the software distribution methods that are available for your site. For example, we are aware that some site administrators have used the following:

• Casper Suite

• Apple Remote Desktop

• Munki

• FileWave

NOTE  

• QSR International has not verified the above deployment methods and we do not provide technical support for them.

• Each installation of NVivo for Mac requires a license key and also needs to be activated.

• You can also perform an unattended activation.

• You can download the latest version of NVivo Mac from https://

Unattended activation

You can activate the license via the Internet using a shell script and an activation file. A valid license key is required for this process. You must have administrator privileges.

The following commands need to be run on each computer you intend to activate:

1. Navigate to the location of the NVivo executable file—for example:

cd "/Applications/NVivo 12.app/Contents/MacOs"

2. Initialize and activate the license key using the following command:

sudo ./NVivo 12 -initialize license key -activate activation filename

This command performs a silent product initialization using the specified license key and the activation details in the specified activation file. Refer to Activation file format for details on the content and format of the activation file.

NOTE  

• Enter the license key in the following format: xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx-xxxxx

• If you want to use NVivo as a free trial, you can use the  '-initialize' parameter without a license key.

• Angle brackets <  > indicate that the enclosed element is mandatory. You need to replace the text within the angle brackets with relevant information. Do not type the angle brackets themselves in the command line.

Activation file format

You need to provide a valid activation file when performing an unattended activation.

IMPORTANT  Make sure the document format is plain text before pasting the sample content into the editor.

To create an activation file:

1. Open TextEdit.

2. Select Format > Make Plain Text.

3. Copy and paste the text below into the editor.

4. Set the values within the tags.

5. Save as a plain text file with UTF-8 encoding.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8" standalone="yes"?>

<Activation>

  <Request>

    <FirstName>John</FirstName>

    <LastName>Sysadmin</LastName>

    <Email>admin@yourorg.com</Email>

    <Phone>+1-555-555-5555</Phone>

    <Fax>+1-555-555-5555</Fax>

    <JobTitle>Your Job Title</JobTitle>

    <Sector>Your Sector</Sector>

    <Industry>Your Industry</Industry>

    <Role>Your Role</Role>

    <Department>Your Department</Department>

    <Organization>Your Organization</Organization>

    <City>Boston</City>

    <Country>USA</Country>

    <State>Massachusetts</State>

  </Request>

</Activation>

You can also download a zip file containing the sample activation file. Extract the file and then open it in your text editor.

• https://download.qsrinternational.com/Software/NVivo12/SampleActivation.zip

NOTE  You must observe the following rules, or the activation will fail:

• Fields in bold are mandatory.

• State is a mandatory field if you set the country field to USA, Canada or Australia.

• You must use a valid email address.

• You must use abbreviations for the following countries:

• For United States of America, use USA

• For United Kingdom, use UK

• For all other countries, capitalize the first letter of each word—for example, 'Mexico' or 'New Zealand'. Refer to the list of accepted country names for the specific format and spelling for your country name.

Unattended license replacement

If your site has been issued multiple NVivo license keys and you encounter problems activating a particular license key—for example, if a license key has expired or has been activated too many times—then, you can use a different license key instead. You can replace an unactivated license.

To perform an unactivated license replacement:

1. Navigate to the location of the NVivo executable file—for example:

cd "/Applications/NVivo 12.app/Contents/MacOs"

2. Replace and activate the license key using the following command:

sudo ./NVivo 12 -initialize license key -activate activation filename

NOTE  

• For information on the content and format of the activation file, refer to Activation file format.

• Only unactivated license keys can be replaced.

• Angle brackets <  > indicate that the enclosed element is mandatory. You need to replace the text within the angle brackets with relevant information. Do not type the angle brackets themselves in the command line.

Unattended license deactivation

You can deactivate NVivo via the Internet using a shell script. The following script needs to be run on each computer you want to deactivate:

To perform unattended deactivation:

1. Navigate to the location of the NVivo executable file—for example:

cd "/Applications/NVivo 12.app/Contents/MacOs"

2. Deactivate the license key using the following command:

sudo ./NVivo 12 -deactivate

This command performs a ‘silent’ deactivation of the NVivo license.

Controlling Automatic Update Checks

By default NVivo will automatically check for updates. You can enable or disable this feature on a per user basis via the command line. If you disable automatic update checks, you will still be able to manually select Check for Updates to see if any updates are available.

To disable automatic update checking, on the command line, type:

defaults write com.qsrinternational.NVivo-12 SUEnableAutomaticChecks -

To enable automatic update checking, on the command line, type:

defaults delete com.qsrinternational.NVivo-12 DisableAutomaticUpdateCheck