Installing RLV Scribe

Installs RLV Scribe as a Windows service, and automatically imports the extension and configures the analytic connection Qlik Sense needs to talk to it.

Who does this

Installing is an IT/infrastructure task, normally done once by whoever manages your Qlik Sense server. If RLV Scribe is already running for your organization, skip ahead to Licensing your installation.

Before you start

• RLV Scribe must be installed on the same Windows Server as your Qlik Sense Enterprise (client-managed) node. The installer wires itself into Qlik Sense by talking to the Qlik Repository Service (QRS) and reading Qlik’s own local certificates directly - it doesn’t support a remote Qlik Sense server, and there’s no Qlik Cloud (SaaS) equivalent.
• Qlik Sense Enterprise already installed and running on that machine, with its Repository Service up. RLV Scribe’s setup step depends on Qlik’s own exported local certificates already existing at C:\ProgramData\Qlik\Sense\Repository\Exported Certificates\.Local Certificates\ - these are created automatically by Qlik Sense itself, not something you prepare by hand.
• Administrator rights on that machine, and an active internet connection during setup.
• The RLV Scribe installer package, provided by Relevance Management.
• Network access from that machine to `https://api.relevance.ro:5001` - Relevance Management’s licensing server. RLV Scribe checks in with it to activate and validate your license.
• A plan for the HTTPS certificate RLV Scribe will present on port 7011 - see HTTPS certificate below before you install, since this affects every user who opens a Qlik app with the extension on it, not just administrators.

Steps

1. Copy the installer to the Qlik Sense server and run it as Administrator.

2. Work through the introductory screens - license terms and the installation folder (default C:\Program Files\Relevance\RLV Scribe\; the default is fine for most installs).

3. Qlik Sense integration screen. RLV Scribe asks for permission to wire itself into Qlik Sense:

   “In order to use all the functionalities of RLV Scribe, we need to ask for your permission to add a new analytical connection to Qlik Sense and also to restart the Qlik Sense engine for the analytical connection to take effect.”

   Restart Qlik Engine after installation is turned on by default - leave it on unless you need to time the Engine restart yourself (for example, during a specific maintenance window). If you turn it off, the new connection won’t take effect until you restart the QlikSenseEngineService manually.

4. Select Install and wait for setup to finish. Behind the scenes, once files are copied and the Windows service is registered, RLV Scribe runs a short integration step that:

   • Connects to your Qlik Sense server’s Repository Service (QRS).
   • Removes any previous rlvscribe extension and uploads the current one.
   • Creates (or updates) an analytic connection named RLVScribe in Qlik Sense, pointed at RLV Scribe’s own writeback engine.
   • Restarts the Qlik Sense Engine service, if you left that box checked.

   This step needs no input from you - if anything in it fails, setup still completes and the Windows service still installs; see What can go wrong below for what a failure there means and how to finish the wiring by hand.

5. Finish. RLV Scribe is now running as a Windows service. Continue to Licensing your installation.

What gets installed

Windows service

One service, visible in Windows’ Services console (services.msc):

• RLV Scribe (display name RLV Scribe Writeback Service) - starts automatically with Windows. This single process serves the admin console, the REST API the extension calls, and a separate internal connector Qlik Sense uses for writeback expressions.

Qlik Sense side

• The rlvscribe extension (listed in Qlik Sense as Relevance Scribe) is imported into your Qlik Sense server’s extension catalog - available to add to a sheet without any manual QMC import.
• An analytic connection named RLVScribe is created, pointed at RLV Scribe’s writeback engine on this same machine, using the certificates under SseCertificates\ in the install folder.

Note

Every RLV Scribe installation ships with the same SseCertificates\ certificate/key pair - it’s part of the installer, not generated per install. This is fine because that connection only ever accepts connections from this same machine (see Network and certificates) - it isn’t something you need to replace.

Local database

RLV Scribe keeps its own configuration (connections, table setup, license status, admin account) in a local, encrypted SQLite database inside the install folder - there’s no separate database service to install or manage.

HTTPS certificate

RLV Scribe serves the admin console, its API, and every writeback call from the extension over HTTPS on port 7011. Unlike a typical admin tool, this port isn’t just for administrators - every user who opens a Qlik app containing the RLV Scribe extension has their browser call this address directly, whenever they load the sheet or save a change. An untrusted certificate here shows a security warning to every one of those users, not just whoever installed it.

By default, RLV Scribe looks for an existing certificate matching this machine’s name in the Windows certificate store; if it doesn’t find one, it generates and installs a self-signed certificate valid for 5 years, trusted only on this machine. To use a real certificate instead (recommended for production):

1. Install the certificate into the LocalMachine\My Windows certificate store on this server, the same way you would for Qlik Sense itself.
2. Open appsettings.json in the RLV Scribe install folder and set CertificateSettings to match it - either its Thumbprint (to pin an exact certificate), or its AdditionalDomains (a hostname it should be matched and issued for, if you’re not pinning by thumbprint).
3. Restart the RLV Scribe service for the change to take effect.

Caution

If your Qlik Sense server already has a proper certificate installed for its own hostname (many do), pointing CertificateSettings at that same certificate is usually the simplest option - one certificate to renew, one hostname your users already trust.

What can go wrong

The Qlik Sense integration step (see step 4 above) can fail without stopping the rest of setup. If your Qlik app authors report the extension isn’t appearing, or writeback isn’t working, check the setup log for one of these - each maps to a specific cause:

What the log shows	What it means	What to do
Required DLL for certificate conversion not found	A file is missing from the install folder	Reinstall RLV Scribe
Certificate file / key file not found at ...\Exported Certificates\...	Qlik Sense’s own local certificates haven’t been exported yet on this machine	Confirm Qlik Sense’s Repository Service has started at least once, then re-run the installer
Error preparing certificates	The certificate conversion step failed	Re-run the installer; if it persists, check that Qlik Sense’s local certificates aren’t corrupted
All connection attempts to Qlik Sense failed	The Qlik Sense Repository Service isn’t running or isn’t reachable on this machine	Confirm Qlik Sense is running, then re-run the installer
Failed to upload the RLV Scribe extension	Connected to Qlik Sense, but the extension upload itself was rejected	Check available disk space and Qlik Sense Repository Service health, then retry
Failed to configure the SSE analytic connection	Connected to Qlik Sense, but creating/updating the RLVScribe analytic connection failed	Check the QMC’s own analytic connections page for a partial/conflicting entry, remove it, and retry

If the integration step doesn’t recover after retrying, you can complete it by hand in the QMC: import Extension\rlvscribe.zip from the install folder under Extensions, and add an analytic connection named RLVScribe pointing at this machine’s writeback engine, using the certificates under SseCertificates\ in the install folder.

Caution

If Windows Firewall is enabled on this server, open inbound TCP port 3285 for local traffic - RLV Scribe’s own log reminds you of this during setup. This connection is only ever made from Qlik Sense’s own Engine service on the same machine, never from another computer.

Worked example

An IT administrator installs RLV Scribe directly on the Windows Server that already runs Qlik Sense Enterprise. They accept the default install location, leave Restart Qlik Engine after installation checked, and select Install. A few minutes later, setup finishes; they open the QMC and confirm a new RLVScribe analytic connection is listed and the Qlik Sense Engine service shows a recent restart time - no manual QMC work was needed. They then follow Licensing your installation to activate it.