A guide to using the ELMS Software Distribution System
Computing and Communications Services uses E-Academy's ELMS Software Distribution System to distribute various site and volume licensed software products to the University of Guelph / Guelph-Humber community. This guide covers the basics of using ELMS.
Note: all purchases in ELMS are non-refundable. Please ensure you have ordered the correct version of your software before proceding to check-out. The CCS refund policy statement is available here.
- Section 1: Signing into ELMS.
- Section 2: How content is organized in ELMS.
- Section 3: Pricing.
- Section 4: The ELMS Shopping Cart.
- Section 5: How to get Guelph Institutional Use software on DVD.
- Section 6: Determining what offers you are eligible to purchase
- Section 7: Reviewing your account information and purchase history.
- Section 8: Making a purchase from the Institutional Use Only Software primary tab - step by step instructions.
- Frequently asked questions.
1. Signing into ELMS.
ELMS is available at: http://guelph.onthehub.com You can access the system with either the Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox web browsers. Other browsers may work as well but have not been tested by Computing and Communications Services.
Click the Sign In link in the top right corner to sign in. Use your University of Guelph Central Login ID and password.
Figure 1: ELMS Sign In
Be sure to click the Sign Out link when you have finished your ELMS sesison.
Figure 2: ELMS Sign Out
2. How Content Is Organized in ELMS
Offers:
Content in ELMS consists of offers. An offer is a specific software product for a specific operating system. Not all products are available for all operating systems.
In the screen capture below, the offer is: Adobe Acrobat 9 Professional (English), for the Windows operating system. The presence of the Mac tab indicates there is an offer of this product available for the Mac operating system. Clicking the Mac tab would display this offer.
Illustration of an Offer in ELMS Express
Primary tabs:
As illustrated in Figure 3 below, offers in ELMS are organized onto two primary tabs:
- Personal Use Software
- Institutional Use Only Software
E-academy provides the offers on the Personal Use Software primary tab. Please contact E-academy with any questions or issues related to these products. Computing and Communications Services does not provide any support for offers on the Personal Use Software tab.
Computing and Communications Services distributes the offers on the Institutional Use Only Software primary tab. Software products available on this tab are specifically licensed for use by faculty, staff and students for research, teaching, learning or administration purposes directly connected with the University of Guelph / Guelph-Humber. Personal use of these products is a violation of the license agreeements.
Figure 3: Content in ELMS Express is organized on two primary tabs.
Publishers:
Within a primary tab, offers are organized by publisher as illustrated in Figure 4 below. The active primary tab (one of: Personal Use Software or Institutional Use Only Software) is orange in colour. In Figure 4 below, the active primary tab is "Institutional Use Only Software" and there are two publishers shown: University of Guelph / Guelph-Humber and Adobe Systems Incorporated.
The publisher: University of Guelph / Guelph-Humber always appears first. Publishers of additional products available on the Institutional Use Only Software primary tab are listed in alphabetical order.
Figure 4: Products within ELMS Express are organized by Publisher
Clicking a product icon on the web page illustrated in Figure 4 lists the various offerings for the product, along with their price.
Offers for various operating systems are organized on operating system tabs (see 1 and 2 in Figure 5). One tab will be visible for each operating system that the product is available for (e.g. Windows, Mac, Linux). Figure 5 illustrates the offering for the Windows operating system, of Adobe Acrobat 9 Professional. Clicking the Mac tab (2 in Figure 5) would list the offerings of Adobe Acrobat 9 Professional for the Mac operating system.
Figure 5: Illustration of an Offer in ELMS Express
3. Pricing.
The price listed for offers on the Institutional Use Only Software primary tab includes all taxes. Tax is added at Check Out for offers provided by e-academy on the Personal Use Software primary tab.
Offers on the Institutional Use Only Software primary tab may be purchased by credit card, Pay Pal, or University of Guelph Billing code (faculty and staff only).
Offers on the Personal Use Only primary tab may be purchased by credit card or Pay Pal.
4. The ELMS Shopping Cart.
As you make purchases during your ELMS session, the purchases are added to your shopping cart. You may access your shopping cart by clicking on the Shopping Cart link (see 1 in Figure 7 below).
When viewing your shopping cart, click the Check Out button (see 2 in Figure 7 below) to complete the purchase of your items. At Check Out time you will be prompted to choose your payment method. All items in your shopping cart must be purchased with the same payment method.
Note: all purchases in ELMS are non-refundable. Ensure you have ordered the correct software product before proceding to Check Out.
Figure 7: The ELMS Shopping Cart
5. How to get Guelph Institutional Use software on DVD
The majority of offers in ELMS are available as download only. However DVD copies can be ordered for some products on the Institutional Use Only Software primary tab. Note that you need to purchase the product first (including Check Out of the item if it is in your Shopping Cart), and then you can order a DVD copy.
Use the Guelph Institutional Media offer (located on the Institutional Use Only Software primary tab) to order DVD copies of software you have previously purchased in ELMS. Please allow 3-5 business days for preparation of your DVD. Note that as with other content in ELMS, DVD purchases are non-refundable.
Figure 6: The Institutional Media offer in ELMS Express
After you have added the Institutional Media offer to your shopping cart, at Check Out time you will be prompted to select the product you wish to purchase a DVD copy of. Refering to the red numbers in Figure 6b below:
- Choose the product from the drop down list - choose Other if your product is not listed.
- If you choose Other from the drop down list - enter the product name in this area.
- Choose your delivery method.
- Click Next to proceed with checkout.
Figure 6b: Specifying the product you wish to order a DVD copy of.
Note: Ensure you check with CCS before specifying a product of type: Other to ensure the product is available on DVD. Not all products are available.
6. Determining what offers you are eligible to purchase.
ELMS displays all available offers in the system, however a product's licensing terms and conditions determine who is actually eligible to purchase an offer. To determine the eligibility requirements, please view the area beneath the offer as illustrated Figure 8 below. You must be a member of one of the eligibility groups listed to purchase the product. Clicking the Your Account link (see Figure 8) will display your group memberships.
Special note for the eligiblity group: Staff member.
Staff member is the designation used in ELMS Express for paid non-faculty employees of the University of Guelph / Guelph-Humber who work over a threshold number of hours per bi-weekly pay period, and over a threshold number of weeks per year. If your group membership information in ELMS Express does not include the specific text Staff member (e.g. it contains the text Staff but not Staff member) then you have not been designated by the University of Guelph / Guelph-Humber as a member of this Staff member group and are therefore not eligible to purchase a product that is only licensed for the Staff member eligibilty group.
Note also that some products have restrictions in terms of the number of copies you can purchase.
Figure 8: Determining what products you are eligible to purchase.
7. Reviewing your account information and purchase history.
Information about your account, your eligibility status, and your offer purchase history is available by clicking the Your Account link (see 1 in Figure 9 below).
Refering to Figure 9:
- the Account Details link (see 2 in Figure 9) lets you view/modify your address details.
- the Your Eligibiliy link (see 3 in Figure 9) lets you view your eligibility (i.e. what groups you are a member of).
- the View Details link (see 4 in Figure 9) beside each offer you have purchased lets you review your order details including license activation codes, etc.
Figure 9: Your Account and Purchase History Information
When you click the View Details link you will see the Purchase Receipt corresponding to the order as illustrated in Figure 9b below. Note, if your product requires a serial number, license key, or the name of a license server to activate, this code will be shown on the receipt (see 1 in Figure 9b below).
Figure 9b: The ELMS Express Purchase Receipt
8. Making a purchase from the Institutional Use Only Software primary tab - step by step instructions.
Step 1: Select the Institutional Use Only Software primary tab.
Step 1
Step 2: Select the product of choice (in the example below it is: Adobe Acrobat 9 ).
Step 2
Step 3: Click the tab corresponding to the desired Operating System. Note not all products are available for all Operating Systems. If no tabs appear in the Operating System area the product is only available for Microsoft Windows.
Step 3
Step 4: Click the product name link to view full product details.
Step 4
Step 5: Confirm your eligibility to purchase this product (see 1 in the figure below) then click the Add to Cart button (see 2 in figure below). You will not be able to add the product to your Shopping Cart if you do not meet the eligibility requirements.
Step 5
Step 6: Your Shopping Cart will appear. Click the Check Out button to complete your purchase.
Step 6
Step 7: If the product is chargeable, you will be prompted to indicate your payment method. Please note that the Guelph Billing Code method is only available to Faculty and Staff.
Step 7
Step 8: Complete the Billing Details as required for your purchase method. The example below illustrates some of the Credit Card details that are required.
Step 8
Step 9: Review your purchase details, then click the Proceed With Order button.
Step 9
Step 10: Your Purchase Receipt will be displayed as illustrated below. Review your purchase receipt for a serial number / license key / or license manager server code. Some software requires this code to activate.
The Software Distribution Site uses a custom Secure Download Manager (SDM) to secure and verify the installer packages provided through the Site. It must be installed before the ordered software can be downloaded. Click on the Start Download button and a new browser window will open.
Step 10
Step 11: This page provides links with which to download both the SDM and, when that has been installed, the installation files for the purchased product. Click the “Download SDM” button. Click on Run to begin installing the SDM.
Step 11
Step 11 for Firefox: If using Firefox, clicking on the “Download SDM” button will cause this box to appear. Save the file, find the download location, and double click the “SDM_EN.msi” file to launch the installer.
Step 11 for Firefox
Step 12: Click Next.
Step 12a
You must agree to the License to continue. Select “I Agree” and click the Next button when ready.
Step 12b
You can select where the SDM installs, although the default location should be fine. Click the Next button when ready.
Step 12c
The SDM will then install.
Step 12d
Click the Close button and go back to your browser to continue with downloading the purchased product.
Step 12e
Step 13: Click in the “Download .SDX” button. Click on the Open button. The Secure Download Manager will start.
Step 13
Step 13 for Firefox: If using Firefox, clicking in the “Download .SDX” button will cause this box to appear. Click OK to open the file with the SDM.
Step 13 for Firefox
Step 14: The installation files for the purchased product will now be available for download. Click the “Start Download” button for the appropriate product. Ensure that the package downloaded matches the computer’s architecture (32bit vs. 64bit).
Step 14a
Downloads can be started concurrently, paused, and restarted as necessary. The progress will be indicated beside each download.
Step 14b
Once the download has completed, press the Launch button to run the installer for that product.
Step 14c
Frequently asked questions.
1. When I install my software it is asking for a license activation key, serial number, or the name of a server - where can I find this information ?
This information is on your Purchase Receipt. Please review section 7 above (Reviewing your account information and purchase history) for details on how to find this information on your Purchase Receipt.
2. I purchased SAS in the summer and it is displaying a warning that it is about to expire - why ?
The SAS product expires each year on October 30. When you purchase SAS you are purchasing a license to allow SAS to run up to this date. The purchase cost of SAS is adjusted to reduce its cost as the product expiration date approaches.
3. Why can't I receive a refund or an exchange for an item I have purchased in ELMS ?
Products in ELMS contain one-time-use license keys that cannot be re-used, or repeated use keys that, once obtained, can be used to activate non-licensed versions of products. Accordingly all products in ELMS with a cost associated with them are non-refundable and cannot be exchanged. The CCS refund policy statement is available here.
4. I see the list of groups eligible to purchase a specific offer contains: Staff member. Why can't I purchase this product since when I view my eligibility in ELMS Express it says I am "Staff".
Your eligibility status in ELMS Express is determined by information provided by Guelph's Human Resources Department (H.R.). The designation "Staff" is a subset of members of the University of Guelph / Guelph-Humber Staff Members group. This subset ("Staff") is not eligible to purchase products licensed by the vendor unless "Staff" is listed specifically in the list of groups shown as eligible to purchase the product.