Guide on Installing the Syrinx Server Software

Overview

This guide covers the steps required to install the Syrinx database and software on to a server.  Please read the guide fully before proceeding with the installation so that you are entirely familiar with the process.

Preparation

•  Check that the specification of the new PC is adequate for running the database engine and Syrinx programs as per the Syrinx Minimum Hardware Requirements, and that you have the latest Windows service packs and updates installed.

• The latest version of the Syrinx version 4 server installer can be downloaded from the following location:

https://www.syrinxusers.co.uk/download/Syrinx%20Releases/Current/Server%20Install%20Full.exe

username: download password: c0nc3pt

*If your browser settings prevent you from downloading .exe files, you can download a .zip version of that file from the below link:

https://www.syrinxusers.co.uk/download/Syrinx%20Releases/Current/Server%20Install%20Full.zip

• The ‘Server Install Full.exe’ installer includes Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Express. Check if the new PC already has SQL Server installed on it.  For example, some versions of Microsoft Small Business Server already include the SQL Server database engine. If you already have SQL server installed and you wish to use the installed version to host the Syrinx database, you can choose not to install Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Express and use your existing installation. However, Syrinx requires the SQL database engine to be set to use mix-mode authentication and you also must know the ‘sa’ administrator password and the connection details for the existing SQL installation in order to restore the Syrinx database to the server.  
• Check which drive letter on the new PC is to be used to hold the Syrinx data and installation files.  Normally, this will be the drive with the most available space.  The chosen drive must have at least 5Gb of free space.

Installing the software

• Login to the new server that will host the Syrinx databases as a Windows user with administration privileges.  Run the ‘Syrinx Install Full.exe’ file which was downloaded during the preparation steps. ***The windows user that you are logged on with must be a password enabled logon otherwise the database engine installation will not complete successfully.  The windows user should also not have the same name as the new computer as this will also cause the installation of the database engine to fail.

• You will then be presented with screen below; click the ‘Install’ button:

• You will be presented with two installation options. Choose the ‘This is an installation of a new Syrinx database’ option:

• Next select the destination drive where Syrinx is to be installed:

• If the installer detects an existing instance of SQL server, you will be presented with the below option:

Select ‘Create New Instance’ if you do not wish to use the existing SQL installation or tick the ‘Use Existing Instance’ option and then the ‘Use Existing Instance’ button if you wish to restore the Syrinx database to the existing SQL installation on the new server.  ***The existing SQL installation must be set to Mixed Mode Authentication and you must know the sa password.

• The installer will now extract the installation files and run SPv4Setup.exe, the main Syrinx installation program; click the ‘Ok’ button:

• Click on the “Install” button to begin the installation:

• The system will then begin the installation of Syrinx SP, Syrinx SP Configuration, Syrinx SP Database Administration, Syrinx PDF printer driver, Crystal Reports Runtime XI, Crystal .Net 11.5 and Microsoft Access Runtime 2010 32bit.  Please note that if you are running a 64bit version of Office 2010, the installation of the Microsoft Access 2010 Runtime will fail as Microsoft does not permit the installation of 32bit and 64bit versions of the same version of office.  It will be necessary to uninstall any 64bit Office 2010 components and replace them with the 32 bit versions before you will be able to install Syrinx on the PC.
• If the installation is successful, the below screen will be displayed and you simply need to click the exit button to complete the installation:

• You will now be presented with the option to install the SQL Database Engine. If you already have SQL server installed and wish to use the existing installation then press the ‘Skip’ button, otherwise you should press the ‘Install’ button. The installation of SQL will normally take between 5 to 10 minutes:

• Once SQL has been installed you will now see a screen that will allow you to restore your company database files:

**If the restore fails and you have placed the backup files on the desktop for example, try copying them to the C:\SQLDataSP\Backup directory and then attempt the restore again.  The SQL server service can sometimes have issues reading files in user specific directories such as the desktop or ‘My Documents’.

• Use the ‘Browse’ button to select the Syrinx database backup file. The name format of the file will be SyrinxXX.bak where XX is the two letter company identitfier. When you have selected the Syrinx database backup file, click the ‘Restore’ button:

• When the restore has completed, you will get the option to restore any further databases. If you choose ‘Yes’, then you will return to the ‘Restore from backup’ screen where you can select the next backup file to restore if you wish to restore any further company databases or the demo database, otherwise select ‘No’:

• Finally you will be shown a summary of the login details. Please make a note of the ‘Server name’ value as this will be required when you attempt to connect to the database from the Syrinx clients PCs:

You should also verify that the TCP port mentionned in the field ‘Listening on TCP port number’ has been opened in the server’s firewall.  If this port is something different than 1433, a port will need to be opened for the SQL Browser service which listens on UDP port 1434 as well as the port mentionned in the summary. Depending on your firewall software, the specific ports can be opened for ‘inbound’ connections or the SQL Server Service and SQL Browser Service executables can be allowed to receive inbound connections.  The installer should add exceptions in the windows firewall for these ports but it is worth double checking as an incorrectly configured firewall can potentially prevent users from connecting to the database on the new server.

• You should verify that the shared folders created during the installation process have the required share and security permissions to allow Syrinx users on the network to access these files.  The following shares are created during the installation process:

**Syrinx Support is not responsible for setting the permissions on these shared directories or granting users access to these directories.

• The installation on the new server is now complete.

Creating a Backup on the New Server

Following a successful installation, it is advisable to set up a backup of the Syrinx database on the new server.  If your current backup software/solution is SQL database aware, consult your IT administrator on backing up the Syrinx database with your chosen backup software/solution.  If your backup software/solution cannot backup SQL databases, you can use the Syrinx SP Database Administration program to create a backup task on the new server which can either be run manually by a user or scheduled via windows task scheduler.  On the new Syrinx database server, go to Start / Programs / Syrinx SP v4 / Syrinx SP Database Administration and log into the Database Administration program using the ‘sa’ username and connecting to the ‘master’ database.  Select the ‘Backup’ option to open the ‘Backup Database’ screen and then select the appropriate database to back up, the location for the backup and then enable the ‘Create Batch File to do Backup’ option and press ‘OK’:



If you use this option and press OK, you will get the below message:



Once you click OK on this message, you will get a window allowing you to select the location where you want to save the Batch file.  The ‘Desktop’ folder is always a good option at this point as it is easy to access and allows you to test the file works. It can be moved at a later date if necessary:




After selecting a location and pressing OK a batch file named BackupHire.bat will be created in the specified location:

When you double click on the Batch file it will attempt to run the Backup. It will save the Backup to the location you specified in the file path earlier:



Once you have verified that the batch file is working properly and the backup is being created, you can then use Windows Task Scheduler to schedule the backup to run automatically on certain days of the week at specified times.  If you decide to schedule the backup, you should open the BackupHire.bat file in notepad or an equivalent text editor and remove the ‘pause’ line so that backup task does not pause for user input (e.g., Press any key to continue….) as it will be running unattended as a scheduled task:

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