Product Tips
Master Tip: Installing QuickBooks in a Multi-User EnvironmentBy: Doug Sleeter, President, The Sleeter Group, Inc.
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The architecture for networking has changed in QuickBooks® 2006. That's why we've asked Doug Sleeter, of The Sleeter Group, to let us share a preview of a new chapter (in the upcoming 2005-2006 QuickBooks Consultant's Reference Guide) on installing QuickBooks in a networked environment. In this master tip, he outlines the pertinent steps to keep you and your clients from getting in trouble when installing QuickBooks in a networked, multi-user environment.
If you're about to upgrade your clients to QuickBooks 2006, it's important to get things set up and running smoothly the first time. This short article will help you quickly set up QuickBooks 2006 in a multi-user environment.
Use these steps when you're setting up QuickBooks 2006 for the following:
- Network server running Windows 2000 Server or Windows 2003 Server.
- QuickBooks data files stored on the server in a shared folder.
- Clients on the LAN running QuickBooks, sharing access to data files in multi-user mode (simultaneously accessing company data).
Editor's Note: If you have already installed QuickBooks 2006 in a multi-user environment, following the approach you had used for QuickBooks 2005 or earlier, see the Addendum toward the bottom of the article.
Follow these steps:
| Step 1 | Verify that you have the following:
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| Step 2 | Make sure all windows updates have been applied. This is a general recommendation, but I always repeat it because so often clients have problems with down-rev operating systems. | |
| Step 3 | Install QuickBooks on the server first. You don't need an extra license for the server installation, so if you have 5 users, you CAN install a sixth copy on the server without buying another license. You'll never be able to exceed 5 simultaneous users with Premier, but it won't prevent you from installing the sixth copy. Techie stuff (optional reading): The reason you install a copy on the server is so that QB installs the "service" that makes multi-user performance better. This service is called the "QuickBooksDB" service (filename QBDBMgr.exe) and it will automatically start when you boot the server. You can also start/stop/restart this service from the services applet on your server. If all this is too techie, don't worry about it. QuickBooks hides the details quite well and everything should work without extra effort unless you have a non-standard setup. All you need to worry about is that you WANT to install QuickBooks on the server so you will have good performance when in multi-user mode. |
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| Step 4 | Locate the QBW file(s) in a folder on the server, and share that folder with others on the network. Techie stuff (optional reading): You probably want to set up an Active Directory Security Group (e.g., QB Access), and add each authorized user to that group. Then share the folder with that group, and give them read/write access to the folder. |
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| Step 5 | Open QuickBooks on the server and open your data file (or a sample data file). Register the software by going through the online registration. If necessary, convert the data file into QB 2006 format, and then set the "share downloads" option by selecting Update QuickBooks from the Help menu, then click the Options tab, and then set the Shared Download option to Yes. Also, confirm that the Automatic Updates option is set to Yes. This will ensure that all updates are downloaded as they become available, and it will ensure that all clients will be notified as new updates are available. | |
| Step 6 | Set the server to "host" multi-user access to the data file. Select the File menu, then select Utilities, and then select Host Multi-User Access. Click Yes to begin hosting multi-user access to the data file located on your server machine. Techie stuff (optional reading): For QuickBooks to work in multi-user mode, there must be a "host" for the QuickBooks data file. You want the server to be the host, so you're setting it up to "serve" data to other client machines on the network. This step is the critical step in getting the server to provide high-performance hosting of your data files. To verify you've set it up correctly, press F2 and check the bottom section of the Product Information screen. The "Local Server Information" will show your server's computer name somewhere in the text string of the "Server Name" field (see Figure 1). |
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| Figure 1: Server Information — When QuickBooks is open on Server, acting as host for multi-user access | ||
| Step 7 | Close QuickBooks on the server. You should never need to launch it again, but you must leave it installed. The QuickBooksDB service will continue to run and will act as the "server" of your data to all clients on the network. | |
| Step 8 | Install QuickBooks on all clients, then register each copy via the online registration, and then open the data file that is hosted on the server. On each client, select Update QuickBooks from the Help menu, and set the Shared Download option to Yes, and the Automatic Updates option to Yes. | |
| Step 9 | Verify that you are NOT hosting multi-user access from any of the client computers. On each client, press F2 and verify that all of the fields are empty in the "Local Server Information" section (see Figure 2). This ensures that you are using the server as the host of the data file, and that none of the clients are acting as the host of the data file. | |
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| Figure 2: Client Information — When QuickBooks is open on Client, accessing hosted file from server. | ||
| Step 10 | If you find yourself in an environment where an earlier installation has resulted in multi-tasking access, refer to the following Intuit Addendum. | |
Intuit Addendum Although this topic is addressed elsewhere in the Sleeter Group's Mastering QuickBooks Consultant's Reference Guide 2005-2006, Intuit is adding this addendum on issues that arise when QuickBooks 2006 is not installed according to the instructions above. If you or the clients have already tried to install QuickBooks 2006 in a multi-user environment, following the approach you had used for QuickBooks 2005 or earlier, you are likely to run into certain problems. Such an installation is described as having a "floating host." "Floating Host" Defined If QuickBooks is not installed on the server, or if the "hosting options" are improperly set on the server and/or client computers, you may have (perhaps unintentionally) configured your installation to have a "floating host." In this situation, the "host" of the QuickBooks data file will be the first computer on the network to open the QuickBooks data file and enter multi-user mode, or activate the "Start Hosting Multi User Access" option." Because the identification of the host could vary, as when a new session with QuickBooks is begun by a different computer on the network being the first to open the QuickBooks data file, the host is said to be floating. We will use the short-hand term Floating Host Installation to describe this situation. (Our technical support agents may also use the term Alternative Method of Installation, in contrast with the Recommended Method of Installation.) The salient features of a Floating Host Installation follows:
Problems with a Floating Host There are significant risks in using a floating host. You are likely to lose important information later should a different workstation be the first to open the company datafile. Correcting a Floating Host Installation Intuit recommends that you work to get all company files into the recommended mode. To do this you will first need to eliminate certain settings on all company files as accessed via all workstations. What Works Think of each company file in QuickBooks 2006 as having an elephant's memory as to its hosting mode—that is, QuickBooks 2006 almost never forgets. And that memory exists in multiple locations. If at different times, three different workstations were the first to open a specific QBW file, the settings must be addressed on the QBW file via all three workstations. To start, you will need to go to the File menu. The shorthand for this pathway is: File>Utilities>Stop Hosting Multi_User Access
You should take this step (or at least verify that the Hosting Mode is set as "Off") on all workstations, in all QBW files in which there has been an attempted alternative access of the company file. Otherwise the final step (to complete installation of QuickBooks on the Server so that you can use the server as a permanent host) will not work. What Doesn't Work Because some practitioners have tried various shortcuts to stop a particular workstation to stop hosting a particular file, Intuit wants to reiterate that the following things fail to change the "alternative" mode hosting on your company files. These do not work:
In brief, without changing the hosting mode on each company file, the installation of QuickBooks on the server is not enough to switch all companies to "recommended" mode. Final Note for IT Professionals — Legitimate Uses of Alternative Mode Systems engineers or other Information Technology professionals will recognize that certain environments support legitimate uses of the alternative mode of installation (i.e., having SQL Anywhere manage the Company File over the network). Those environments exist under the following conditions:
In most cases, however, Intuit is learning that customers who do not fall into the above scenarios (i.e., systems where there is a true need for company file management across the network) are choosing the alternative install out of habit, and without understanding the implications of that approach. |
Source: Mastering QuickBooks Consultant's Reference Guide 2005–2006 (Pleasanton, Calif.: The Sleeter Group, 2006). Adapted with permission. Copyright © 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 by The Sleeter Group, Inc. All rights reserved. Additional material © 2005 Intuit Inc.
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Douglas Sleeter (Founder/President, The Sleeter Group) has taught over 20,000 accountants and QuickBooks users how to properly use QuickBooks software. Doug has worked with hundreds of QuickBooks consultants in numerous industries since 1994. Doug was a pioneer in developing the first QuickBooks seminars in the country and was selected to develop early Intuit training materials.
The Sleeter Group, Inc., specializes in QuickBooks and online accounting software. The Sleeter Group is a nationally recognized leader in software training for accountants, bookkeepers and small business owners. The company provides seminars, on site training and courseware materials to professionals wishing to increase their expertise in accounting software.
Doug can be contacted as shown:
Douglas Sleeter, President
The Sleeter Group, Inc.
5798 Stoneridge Mall Rd., Suite 101
Pleasanton, CA 94588
Tel.: (925) 416-6300
Fax: (925) 416-7702
www.sleeter.com
info@sleeter.com
Last Updated: 12/06/2005
