3 -- Basic Server Preparation Steps

Steps To Be Completed by Your System Administrator

In order to open and run OneSource, running on a Windows 2008 or 2012 Server, with Terminal (Remote Desktop) Services, the following items need to be setup by your system administrator:

1. Pre-Installation Notes:
• IMPORTANT NOTE: As of April 2014, Microsoft has discontinued support for Windows Server 2003 and Office (Access) 2003.  OneSource Software Solutions will be discontinuing support for all versions of Windows Server 2003, Microsoft Office 2003 AND Microsoft Office 2007 as of April 1st, 2015.
• If you are moving OneSource to a new server or rebuilding your same server, IF you have OneSource Online Orders please make arrangements with our OneSource Online Orders team to help you make that re-installation as well--so their will be no loss of service for your OneSource Online Orders after your move / rebuild. 
• We recommend Raid 1 (with 2 SSD drives or 2 (15k) Dell SAS drives) or Raid 10 (with 4 SSD drives or  4 (15k) Dell SAS drives.  Since your users will be using a Windows Server RDS desktop we recommend NOT making a separate partition for the Windows operating system.
• If having a 'Virtual Server' is within your budget, we recommend that you have your network admin install Microsoft Hyper-V Virtual Server so you can have a virtual server for SQL Server and a separate server for OneSource/Remote Desktop. Otherwise, make sure your server has enough processing power, RAM, and hard drive space to support the SQL Server on the same server as the OneSource/Remote Desktop.  NOTE: If you set up a Microsoft Hyper-V Virtual Server, after OneSource is done with the steps 1-3 (outlined below), be sure to make 1 or more images of your final server configuration. 
2. Install Windows and All Windows updates. 
• Please see our system requirements for very important additional information of which versions of Windows are/aren't compatible with OneSource. 
• Make sure all Windows updates are installed. (Start > All Programs > Windows Update)
• For installations of 20 or more users (you may want to consider having 2 or more servers).  If so we recommend the following:
• Designate the fastest server as a 'Member' server and use it for the Sales team that takes phone orders.  (Be sure to install the OneSource data file on that server as well) 
• Designate the next fastest server as the Domain Controller and setup and administer user security on that box.
• Set up a Trust between the member server(s) and the Domain Controller to enable the user security (for the Member server(s)) to be managed on the Domain controller. 
• NOTE: If you have Windows Server 2008 R2, please see step 4 below to learn about which versions of MS Office are not compatible with Windows Server 2008 R2.
3. Install the Terminal Server services (aka RDP or Remote Desktop Services) in Application Sharing Mode. 
   
• We suggest selecting 'per user' license type when installing terminal services.
• After installing terminal services for the first time on the server you should receive 120 days grace period for unlimited user access.
• After 120 days you will probably not be able to login to more than 2 concurrent admin user sessions unless you have installed terminal server ( or RDP / Remote Desktop Services ) licenses.  A license can be purchased from resellers like Dell.com or from OneSource Software. The license will normally be sent to you directly from Microsoft and usually takes 2-3 business days to receive--so please keep that in mind.  In other words--if you fail to get the actual licenses purchased until AFTER your 120 day grace period expires--you will only be able to OneSource by a TOTAL OF 2 USERS until the licenses arrive from Microsoft 2-3 days later.
  
• If you are using a Windows 2012 Server you will need to install Active Directory (to set up a Domain) in order to properly install the Remote Desktop Services.  When prompted to choose between Virtual Desktop and Session based choose the Session option.
• If you are using a Cloud Server of any type it is possible that you can get locked out of your server if the Administrator account is not in the Remote Desktop Users Group - so be sure to add that right before installing Terminal Services.
4. Install Microsoft the latest version of Office Pro Plus or Access Plus 32-Bit. 
• VERY IMPORTANT:  NO VERSIONS OF OFFICE OR ACCESS 64-BIT WORK WITH ONESOURCE.  ONESOURCE ONLY FUNCTIONS ON 32-BIT VERSIONS OF MICROSOFT OFFICE PROFESSIONAL PLUS.
• If installing Office or Access 2010 or greater, you will need an 'open license' version to install on Terminal Server. 
• You can usually tell if you have that version if the version of Microsoft Office is labeled Microsoft Office Professional Plus.  
• You usually need to purchase this from a Microsoft Reseller such as Dell.com or other sites.    
• You usually need to purchase at least 5 Microsoft licenses of any type to get an 'open license'.  (If you purchase at least 1 license for MS Office Pro and at least 4 terminal server / RDP licenses, you will be able to meet their minimum requirement).  
• When you purchase the open license editions of MS Office Professional Plus and Remote Desktop you will receive an email from Microsoft with instructions of how to login to their server to download the Office iso file and the RDP licenses. You normally will want to download the latest version of Office, 32bit version. If you download an ISO file you may need to 'mount' the ISO file to a virtual DVD drive.
• On newer version of Windows Server you can right-click on the .ISO file and select Mount.  This will make the file appear that it is on a DVD drive.
• On older versions of Windows Server you can burn that ISO to a DVD (or download a free ISO 'mounting' software called Virtual CloneDrive from http://www.slysoft.com/en/virtual-clonedrive.html or from www.onesourcesoftware.net/support/webinstall/Tools/VirtualCloneDrive-FreeWare/SetupVirtualCloneDrive5450.exe/ so you can ''mount' the ISO file to a Clone DVD drive that you make with the software, so you can run the ISO file to install MS Office). (Note: Windows Server 2012 has a built in Mounting option when you click on the ISO file just click on the Mount option on the ribbon).
• After purchasing an Open License, you can log into your Microsoft Open License account here: www.microsoft.com/licensing
• Important Note: When this KBA has been followed and you are completely ready to open OneSource (or reopen OneSource if re-installing OneSource on a new server), if you are upgrading from an older version of Access, there may be a very, very significant delay in opening OneSource the first time (as in 20-60 minutes depending on the speed of your server).  The reason for this is when you open an older copy of OneSource (which is written in MS Access) that is linked to older versions of the Access, VBA, and DAO/ADO DLLs it takes the system a while to automatically find and link to the newer versions of those DLLs. 
• Set up a group policy template to enforce C:\OneSource (and all subfolders, where C is the LOCAL drive letter of your choice) as a 'trusted' location (for MS Access). Make sure to enable all macros and activex controls as well.  This will allow users to log into OneSource (MS Access) without having all programming code frozen from execution.    
5. Set up User and File Security (for OneSource)  THE NET GOAL IS FOR ALL FILES AND FOLDERS (Including Sub Folders) IN THE ONESOURCE FOLDER TO BE ACCESSIBLE BY ALL ONESOURCE USERS WITH READ / WRITE PRIVILEDGES. 
• A.  Create a new Users Group called OneSource Users.  (To open the User Security see bullet below)
• Window 2003 Member Server:  Start > (right click on)  My Computer > Manage > Local Users and Groups (click on + sign in tree on left) > right click on Users to add a user, etc...  (Or Start > Run > compmgmt.msc)
• Note: If the Local Users and Groups is NOT there, then that means the server has been setup as a Domain Controller (meaning it has Active Directory Installed).  In this case try: Start > Run > dsa.msc > Local Users and Groups (click on + sign in tree on left) > right click on Users to add a user, etc...
• Windows 2008 Member Server: Start > (right click on) Computer > Manage > click on + sign next to Configuration in tree on left) > click on + sign next to Local Users and Groups, etc... (Or Start > Run > compmgmt.msc)
• Note: If the Local Users and Groups is NOT there, then that means the server has been setup as a Domain Controller (meaning it has Active Directory Installed).  In this case try: Start > Run > dsa.msc > click on + sign next to Configuration in tree on left) > click on + sign next to Local Users and Groups, etc...
• Windows 2012 
• Member Server: 
• Start > Server Manager > Tools (in the upper right corner) > Computer Management.  
• Or right click on the Start button and select Run and then type: compmgmt.msc
• Or right click on the Start button and select Computer Management
• On the left side, under Computer Management (Local), under System Tools, click Local Users and Groups, then click Users
• Right click on the Users folder and follow the steps to add a new user.
• Note: If the Local Users and Groups is NOT there, then that means the server has been setup as a Domain Controller (meaning it has Active Directory Installed).  In this case try this: Right click on the Start button > select Run > then type dsa.msc  and press Enter. 
• B.  Create a new OneSource folder.
• This folder will usually be created here: C:\OneSource (or E:\OneSource (where E is equal to an additional LOCAL drive on the server).
• C.  Add the OneSource Users group to the OneSource folder you made above and make sure the group has read, write, and modify rights.   
• D.  Create a new Windows user account for each desired OneSource User and put each user in the OneSource Users and Remote Desktop Users groups.  
• Note: Since OneSource is run on a terminal server be sure to make each user's password fairly long and complex (with at least 1 number, at least 1 special character, at least 1 upper case letter and at least 1 lower case letter, and at least 10 characters long.  Use the tool on the following website to  check approximately how many hours or days (or years) your password would take to crack: https://howsecureismypassword.net/)
• E.  Create 2 new user accounts for OneSource tech support personnel to use called OSAdmin and OSAdmin2
• Put both accounts in the Administrators, OneSource Users, and Remote Desktop Users groups.
• Create a strong, complex password and assign the same password to both OSAdmin accounts.
• F.  Put all other users in whichever groups suite your/their needs (including at least these user groups: OneSource Users, Remote Desktop Users, Users) 
• G.  Create a Remote Desktop Icon (on each users PC) that will allow them to easily login to their own server session to use OneSource.
• Open Remote Desktop AND create a Remote Desktop Icon on the Users Desktop:
• To Open Remote Desktop:
• Right-Click Start button.
• Select Run.
• Type mstsc.exe
• Then Click OK.
• To create a Remote Desktop App/Icon on the Desktop (that is NOT a short-cut):
• With the Remote Desktop Connection app open, click on Show Options button.
• Then click Save As...
• Then browse to the PC Desktop...
• Then type a new File Name
• Then click Save 
• Note:
• (See our Terminal Server How To's for tips about this).  NOTE: It is usually a very good idea to make sure this special RDP icon includes these settings:
• Display tab: Set the Display configuration = Full Screen
• Display tab: Colors = 16bit (or whichever settings prevents the screen from painting really slowly when logging into the server RDP session).
• Display tab: [x] Display the connection bar when I use the full screen.
• Local Resources tab: Keyboard = On This Computer.
• Local Resources tab: Uncheck the printers (in most cases, unless you are logging in from a computer outside of the office network and want to try to auto discover a printer remote to the server).
• Local Resources tab: Check the Clipboard option.
• Experience tab: 'Detect connection quality automatically', and enable the 'Persistent bitmap caching' and 'Reconnect if the connection is dropped'.
• NOTE: (If you have Active Directory installed it may be necessary to change settings in Group Policy to allow non admin users to login via Remote Desktop.  See our Terminal Server How To's list for more information on how to do this).
• Establish a Trust for MS Access with OneSource. Each user account needs to 'Trust' the use of Microsoft Access to run OneSource in OneSource folder you created above in step 5B above.
• Manual Method:
• Open MS Access (Start > Run > MSAccess.exe)
• Click File > Options > Trust Center > Trust Center Settings... (Button) > Trusted Locations
• Click Add New Location... (button)
• Click Browse... (and Browse to the location where you created the OneSource folder (such as C:\OneSource), then click OK.
• Check (to enable) the 'Subfolders of this location are also trusted', then click OK. Then click OK, then OK to close all windows.
• Alternative (faster) method using a special Tool that creates the Trust for you:   
• Browse to www.onesourcesoftware.net\support\webinstall\Tools\AccessTrustCreationTool\AddPath2010.zip (and download/save to C:\OneSource (assuming this is where you created the OneSource folder).
• Unzip the file and double-click it.  (This will create an MS Access Trust for the OneSource folder (and all sub-folders as well)
• H.  Test the OSAdmin login (and others if desired) from a remote location.
• It may be necessary to open port 3389 to allow Remote Desktop traffic through the router. 
• It is highly recommended (for extra security measures) to pick a different port number to route your RDP traffic through (rather than the well known default of 3389). For instance, if you chose port 12345 (and configured the incoming and outgoing RDP traffic to route TPC and UDP traffic through that port) then the Remote Desktop Icon (for users logging in outside of the company network) would have an address = x.x.x.x:12345 (where x.x.x.x is the PUBLIC IP Address).
• If you cannot log in from outside of your private network (like from home) you may need to check or change a few things.  You may want to start here: Remote Desktop Services - RDP - Terminal Server - How To's
6. Install SQL Server  (If applicable. Most OneSource users are NOT using SQL Server)
• You may want to install SQL Server on a 2nd Windows server that is dedicated to the SQL database.  OneSource will run on SQL Server Express Edition but we highly recommend that you purchase the Standard Edition (as it will run exponentially faster). 
• Our experience as of this writing is with SQL Server 2014.  No other versions have been tested.  We assume newer versions will also work fine, but do not have experience with other editions at this time.
• We recommend installing SQL Server using Windows Authentication mode.
• Please send the IP Address and 'sa' password to OneSource after installed. 
7. Printers
• Set up network printer(s) and make sure each user can print documents (using the same print driver name) to Word or notepad doc.
• Note: If you are MOVING your server AND are planning to set up OneSource with a different file structure, be sure to let OneSource tech support know so additional changes can be made to the settings.
8. Provide / Test Remote Login for OneSource Tech Support Personnel:
• OneSource tech support personnel need to be able to log into the server, remotely, from time to time to install updates, run queries, provide support to a user, etc.  We request the ability to do this using Remote Desktop.  To enable this login, using remote desktop, from a PC or device outside of your local area network, test logging into the server, using the Administrator credentials and then using the OSAdmin (and OSAdmin2) account credentials.  (Note: You may have to 'open' a port in your internet router and/or your company firewall to allow RDP / Remote Desktop traffic through the firewall.  The port to open is typically 3389, but other ports can be used as well if necessary.  
• To make your server more secure from the outside world you may want to actually NOT open 3389 but rather open up some other random 5 digit port on your router or firewall and then (in your router or firewall settings) 'forward' the incoming traffic from the port you assign to 3389 on the server that is running OneSource on the inside of your network).
• When finished, and can login to the server remotely, please send the OSAdmin login info (IP Address and OSAdmin user name and password) and a list of the users (and passwords) to support@onesourcesoftware.com (so we can finish the OneSource setup and installation process for each user). 

Installing OneSource (To be completed by OneSource Tech Support for 1st time installations)

1. Install OneSource (If this is a new install OneSource personnel will perform this step for you)
• If you are RE-INSTALLING OneSource on the same server that it has been installed on before (due to a virus problem, etc), then follow these steps:
• Assuming you have a full backup of the OneSource folder in it's entirety, simply drag and drop that folder back into its original location.
• Navigate back up the tree to the C drive and right click on the OneSource folder and change the Security settings to include FULL CONTROL for the OneSource Users group (you created above).
• Now you can Skip down to Step 2 below.
• If you are installing OneSource for the very first time, follow these steps:  
• Create a new folder called OneSource (such as C:\OneSource) and give the OneSource Users group (created above) Full Control
• C:\OneSource is the recommended path (where C: is equal to any disk that Windows recognizes as a 'local disk' drive on that same server).
• Note: Due to Microsoft's use of different protocols, OneSource runs significantly slower on a 'virtual' drive or when linked to a mapped drive on the same server or another server.
• In the OneSource folder, make these sub-folders:
• \Data   
• This is where the OneSource Company Data file(s) is/are stored and the OneSourceLicense.lic file 
• \TermUsers
• Create an individual folder for EACH OneSource user with their name (or the name of the Windows login they will use) and place a (pre-linked) copy of OneSource in each user folder.
2. Login to each users WINDOWS session (so the desktop can get created) then follow these steps (for each Windows user session).
• (NOTE: Assuming the network administrator has set up a group policy to trust the OneSource location you should NOT have to do the next step).
• Add the OneSource folder to each user's MS Access Trust center locations following these steps:
• Open MS Access from the Start Menu (or just open up a copy of OneSource).
• From the (purple) File menu click Options.
• Then click Trust Center
• Then click Trusted Center Settings (which is a button on the bottom right).
• Then click Trusted Locations (on top left).
• Then click Add new Location... (button) and browse to the folder OneSource folder, and then click OK.  Then click OK again. Then click OK again.  (Then, if you have the OneSource login screen open, close OneSource and reopen it).
• Also click the [   ] Subfolders of this location are also trusted.  (Note: You cannot trust a remote disk drive of any type).
• Create a 'shortcut' to that users copy of OneSource (which will typically be located here: C:\OneSource\TermUsers\%UserName%\OneSource.mdb) (where %UserName% is the actual folder name for that individual user.
• Login to OneSource to make sure the short-cut is properly linked and that the Trust settings are correct.
• Note: You do NOT need to know each users OneSource login.  Just use ANY OneSource login you know, on each Windows session you login to.