Network Diary Help - Server Installation

Installing the Server
Installing the Client
Using the Diary
Client Apps
Server Apps
Troubleshooting
Power User Tips
Customisation

This section describes the installation of the network diary server.

1. Download the Files
2. Install the Server
3. Configure the Server Paths and add users
4. Deploy the Client Install files to \public\tools
5. Setting the path permissions on the server
6. Running the Server

Last revised 19-Nov-2001 (C) Acute Software 2001

1. Download the Files

Download the Server Installation Package
Download the Client Installation Package

Back to Top

2. Install the Server

a). extract all the files from the Server install file to a new blank directory, or the desktop.
b). run SETUP.EXE - this will install all the server files
c). Choose the destination path for the files - the default is
C:\Program Files\acute\NetServer but you can choose any path

Back to Top

3. Configure the Server Paths and add users

a). Start the configuration program

run SetupDiaryServer.exe - this is the main program used to configure the server
Screen shot

b). SETUP PATHS

Choose a path for the Network Data directory. The default path is
D:\netdata, but you can choose any path on a shareable drive
Screen shot

You can click 'details' to see exactly where all the paths are going to be installed.

This will automatically setup the correct paths. If the above example is chosen the path structure will be:

D:\netdata\ <--- the server applications live here. This is the path
you chose when picking the path in ServerSetup.exe
D:\netdata\data <--- where all the master datafiles are kept
D:\netdata\backup <--- the backup path for the datafiles
D:\netdata\public <--- (empty) - this is where the users map to
D:\netdata\public\tools <--- this is where the client SETUP files can be placed
so that the users can easily setup the clients without
having to download a copy themselves.
D:\netdata\public\users\[username] <--- there is sep. path for each user

c) Adding Users - Manually

When you return to the main screen in the SetupDiaryServer program, you will see that the 'Users' button is now enabled. Click this button to edit the users.
Screen shot

To add users manually, click 'Add' and enter the name of the user - this should be a single word, such as the computer name of the user (ie not the first and last name).
[screenshot]- enter user name

After entering a name the rest of the details show up - the paths should be left alone as they will be automatically updated if you go back and change the server path settings. You can change the default install path and also add details such as location (ie room 17) and comments.
Screen shot

d) Adding Users - by Importing a List

If you have more than , say 15 users you want to add it is tedious to enter all the details manually. You can import a text file (containing just a list of single names on a separate line).

Click import users.
Screen shot

Enter the name of the text file you want to add and click OK. The users will be imported with default settings and the correct paths. The server will also create the correct network paths.

Click 'Done' to exit the SetupDiaryServer program

Back to Top

4. Deploy the Client Install files to \public\tools

Extract the contents from the Client Installation package, which was downloaded in step 1

The client files should be extracted to the \public\tools\ directory, so that the users can run the SETUP.EXE file from there which installs the diary client onto their machine.

Setup.EXE
Setup.LST
NetDiaryClient.CAB

This will enable the users to run the installation program without having to download the client software themselves, simply by going to the network path and running SETUP.EXE

Back to Top

5. Setting the path permissions on the server

The path where you chose to keep the data should not be readable or writeable by any of the users, otherwise they may accidently delete others data files.

.. but, you need to make the PUBLIC accessible to the users who will need to save their data here, and also access the latest versions of the client software.

There are 2 ways to setup security:

a) SIMPLE (but each user can see others data and requests)

You can use this if there are only a few users (say, less than 6) where every body already has access to each others drives over a small LAN.

Open Explorer and go the clients root directory ( default D:\netdata\public )
Right click on the path and click 'Sharing', and make it read write by everyone with no password. Click OK.

Go to step 6..

B) MAXIMUM SECURITY

This method involves setting the permission of each of the users network path to be READ/WRITE, only by that user.

Go to each of the users paths in D:\netdata\public\users\[username] and change the permissions to only that users name.

You will still need to make the D:\netdata\public directory readable by all users so the user can map to that base path (this makes sure that their user path is still N:\users\frank (or whatever the name is)

Back to Top

6. Starting the Server

Run NetDiaryServer.exe - this is the main program.
It will autostart - if there are any problems , you will need to run the ServerSetup program again. (ie to add new users, change paths etc)

Screen shot

The number on the left hand side of the server screen is the number of scans per second It should be changing fast up to 300 and back to zero, as there is no load at the moment.

The 'niceness' is a unix term. The bigger the number the 'nicer' the server is on the host computer but the slower the response time to the server can be. You can tune this to suit your needs (ie -- you may be running the server on a PC which is also a desktop machine)

The list of users you entered will show up in the list on the right hand side of the screen. As they do things the status will show up here (ie Logged on, searching for data, saving data)

You have now finished setting up the server!

NEXT -> Installing the Client.

Back to Top