Home » UserName-based Registration

By default, BB is registered to a computer ID. This ID is generated by the installer. The first time BB runs, it sends this ID to our server. If a registration code is also sent , the computer will be automatically registered to the group referenced by the registration code. If a code is not sent, BB will prompt the user for a registration code.

In a virtual machine environment this can cause issues. In these environments, users are given a new vm at login. When BB contacts the server, the server sees that the computer name has changed and wants to assign a new computer ID. Since the computer ID is stored in the registry under HKLM, this requires admin rights, which are generally not available. This also causes issues for billing, since invoice amounts are based upon the number of computers. The number of computers will appear artificially high since each login gets a new (virtual) computer.

BB now supports registration by UserName. To enable this, enable the option “Use UserName for Registration” in your selected group under BB Desktop Options.

Note: This option takes effect only after BB has run the first time for each user, which will likely still cause issues in virtual machine environments. In these environments, in addition to the website setting, set this registry key in your master image:

HKLM\Software\LaunchMagic\BBDesktop\Settings\useUserNameForRegistration = (DWORD) 1.

For 64-bit operating systems, it is:

HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\LaunchMagic\BBDesktop\Settings\useUserNameForRegistration = (DWORD) 1

With this option configured, BB will operate as follows:

  • The Computer ID and UserName are sent to our server.
  • The server will first validate the Computer ID and find the group assigned to this Computer ID.
  • The server will then check to see if the “Use UserName for Registration” option is set for the group assigned to the Computer ID.
  • If that option is set:
    • The UserName will be looked up to see if there is a different group assignment for the specific UserName. This is configured by selecting a group and clicking “Edit UserNames for Group”.
    • The UserName will be saved into our database for billing and tracking purposes.

Important security note: By default, the UserName from Windows will be used, which is the user’s login name. If your security policy prohibits the login name from being transmitted to and stored on our servers, BB can be configured to ask the user for a name to be used instead. There are two registry keys that control this, both in HKLM\Software\LaunchMagic\BBDesktop\Settings or HKLM\Software\Wow6432Node\LaunchMagic\BBDesktop\Settings on 64 bit operating systems:

  • requireManualUserName (DWORD) = 1 This is required to enable the option.
  • enterUserNameText (STRING) This is the text that will appear in the dialog asking for the UserName, and replaces the default text. This allows you to provide your own instructions.
  • Alternatively, these options can be set on the admin website under BB Desktop Options.

Additional Information:

  • If you are not setting the registry keys, then the “Use UserName for Registration” option must be set in both the group where the computer is assigned, and in the group assigned by the username, if there is one
  • If you are not setting the registry keys, the first time BB runs it will not use the username. This is because the settings need to be retrieved from our server, and the first time BB runs it doesn’t have the settings yet. The second time it runs it will use the username.

If you have any questions about how to use UserName Registration please contact us at: support@bookingbuilder.com