Introduction
Before creating a package to deploy Snagit to your user-base, there are a few questions that must be considered about the structure of your environment and how Snagit will behave in your environment. We recommend using the TechSmith Deployment Tool to create the transform (MST) and BAT files. The TechSmith Deployment Tool, along with additional documentation regarding enterprise deployment can be on our Enterprise Resources Page.
Snagit 2022 the please refer to this article for locations the Library can be used.
Snagit 2021 and earlier:
Datastore
The Datastore is where Snagit will store all of the captures (video and images) for a user. The Datastore is also what makes up the Library within the Snagit Editor, where the user is able to organize their captures. The captures are maintained using the Snagit900.SDF file in the Datastore.
Questions to Consider
- Where is the user profile information being stored (local disk, network path)?
- What would you like the Datastore to act as within your environment? For example, will it be a temporary storage location for that user's session (and all content will be deleted when that user logs off)? Or, will it be a permanent storage location that should be synced with that user’s profile?
This is the default installation location for the Datastore folder. In many environments, the %LOCALAPPDATA% is a persistent folder. A static folder such as E:\F.Last\ can also be used.
A common procedure is to delete the %LOCALAPPDATA% folder when a user logs off of a client when using Remote Desktop Services. This setting is configured in Group Policy with the name "Delete cached copied of roaming profiles." When removing the local cached profile, the Datastore would effectively be deleted every time the user logs out of the client if left at the default location of %LOCALAPPDATA%\TechSmith\Snagit\Datastore (and therefore all of the user's unsaved captures would be deleted).
It would be wise to prevent users from being able to change the location of the Datastore (automatically stored files location) when creating the MST via the TechSmith Deployment Tool.
This will force the Datastore folder to be created when the user begins a new session. If users were to leave Allow users to change the automatically stored files location selected, every time they start Snagit, they would be prompted with the following message:
Many organizations elect to store %APPDATA% information using folder redirection (e.g roaming profiles) or user profile disks. Configuring the Datastore to be in %APPDATA% may be an option in this case. It may be worth disabling Snagit from starting with Windows when creating the MST in order to give the client enough time to pull down the %AppData% information.
Tip: Disable Automatic Storing to Library
If the size of the Datastore is a concern, consider disabling automatic saving for all image and video captures when creating the MST.
- Open Snagit Editor.
- Select Edit > Editor Preferences > Library.
- Deselect Automatically save new image captures in the Library and Automatically save new image captures in the Library.
- Open TechSmith Deployment Tool.
- Click Snagit Registry File.
- Select Customize Snagit registry settings by using this computer's settings.
This will force the user to manually save any images they wish to keep in their library and will discard any that are not specifically saved by the user.
If the Datastore is configured to be a permanent repository for the user's captures, this could potentially become a large folder (all images and videos would be stored here). This is something to consider if the Datatstore is synced with the user’s profile over a network. When a user begins a session, the SDF file would be copied down to the local machine and cached. At the end of the session, it will sync back up with the profile data. All actual image captures and video captures would be stored in the configured Datastore path of the users profile.
Snag900.sdf
The Snag900.sdf file is a SQL Server Compact Edition Database file inside the Datastore is what organizes and maintains the Snagit Library. The Snagit Editor initializes the Snag900.sdf file when SnagitEditor.exe is launched and required in order to launch successfully.
Tip: SQL CE Files
Microsoft does not support running SQL CE files (Snag900.sdf) from a network location. If the Datastore is configured to be on a network location, the SDF file is cached into %LOCALAPPDATA% on the client during the user's session. If %LOCALAPPDATA% is being redirected, a sharing violation may occur when launching the Editor.
A possible workaround would be to configure the Datastore to a local folder, such as C:\SnagitTemp\, and disable automatic savings for image and video captures in the MST in Option 3.
Accessories
Accessories are integrated sharing outputs for specific applications ( Microsoft Office, Dropbox, etc).
Questions to Consider
- What sort of network restrictions are in place that may conflict with certain accessories? For example, is YouTube blocked for users on your network? If so, then the YouTube accessory should not be installed with Snagit.
- Should users be able to download and install (or uninstall) accessories at their own discretion?
Tip: Disable Snagit Output Manager
If you would like to prevent users from managing their accessories, consider having them installed into a Read only location for those users and disable the Snagit Output Manager using the TechSmith Deployment Tool (Snagit 13.0 or later).
Other User Settings
Other settings include a user's QuickStyles, thumbnail icons, and TUDI information. This information varies slightly from Snagit 12.0.0 to Snagit 13.0.0 (and later).
| Snagit 12 | Snagit 13 (and later) |
|---|---|
|
|
Questions to consider
- Similar to the Datastore, should these items be synced with your user profiles? Or, should this information be deleted at the end of each session? Usually, this is set to the same path as the Datastore.
General Considerations
What Type of Technology Are You Using to Implement Snagit?
Snagit has been tested and is supported via the following technologies:
- Remote Desktop
- Streamed Application (AppV)
Snagit has not been tested in the following technologies:
- Published Application
- Application layering
Tip!
Even though these technologies have not been tested and are not supported, it may be possible to configure Snagit to work in these environment, assuming that it would make sense to. For example, implementing Snagit as a published application would only allow Snagit to capture from the host, rather than the client, so this may not make sense for your environment. If you do find ways to implement Snagit in these technologies, we would like to hear your feedback. Please submit a ticket to our support team.
