Setting Up & Installing Q Local™ Software on a Network

We highly recommend installing all components of Q Local software (Client, Shared Database and Shared Report Counter) on the server first as a test. (And you may want to leave the client on the server for diagnostic purposes.) Once Q Local software is running, you can install Q Local software clients across your network. (Network configurations and specific instructions to start the installation from the CD follow.) These steps should guide your network installation:

Get everything running on the server machine (Client, Shared Database, and Shared Report Counter). Verify that Q Local (the client) can open the home page and that it can view the report usage inventory.
Turn off all server firewalls and port blocking features. The server must be running – even on client installs. (During the installation, information is passed between the server and the client.) Turn off all prospective client machine firewalls and port blocking features.
Use SQLPing (a troubleshooting program in the Utilities folder on the software CD) on a prospective client machine to verify that it can reach the server. The SQLPing command should return information about the server, like server name and TCP port. This will indicate network connectivity and that the server is running. This indicates that the client machine is ready for a Q Local client installation. (If no information is returned, there is a connectivity problem.)
Install Q Local (the client) on the client machine (or workstation) and verify that Q Local software can open the home page and can view the report usage inventory.

Note: If the server gets reinstalled in the future, it will likely choose a different TCP port. This will require editing the configuration file on each client to change the port number. SQLPing can be used to discover the new port number that was chosen.

Network Configurations

Q Local software can be installed over an existing TCP/IP network infrastructure to share a central database and report counter with up to five users on a network. This tipsheet explains how to configure the network and install the Q Local software. The network can be configured a number of ways, with the simplest mentioned first.

1. Traditional Client/Server with Single Server for Database and Report Counter

The most common way to set up the network is to use a computer in a server room as both the database server and as the report counter server. The server computer is then accessed by the other computers running the Q Local software.

2. Traditional Server for Database, but Not for Report Counter

The database server is set up in a server room, but another computer on the network provides access to the report counter. This configuration is suggested when it is difficult to access the server room to connect the report counter. Instead, the report counter is connected to another computer on the network.

*Note: With this configuration, if the report counter server is running Windows® 98 or ME, the user of the report counter server must stay logged in. (The user doesn’t have to stay logged in if the report counter server is running Windows NT®, 2000 or XP.) For Windows 2000 or XP, the machine must stay powered on (but a user can still log out).

3. No Traditional Server

No server is set up in a server room. Instead, individual PCs are used and one is set up as the database server and another (or the same one) is set up as the report counter server. Two examples follow:

*Note: With this configuration, if the report counter server is running Windows® 98 or ME, the user of the report counter server must stay logged in. (The user doesn’t have to stay logged in if the report counter server is running Windows NT, 2000 or XP.) For Windows 2000 or XP, the machine must stay powered on (but a user can still log out).

Installing the Q Local Network Version Software

To install software on the Database Server computer:

Exit all Windows programs. Disable antivirus/firewall software. (Re-enable later.)
Insert the Q Local software CD into your CD ROM drive.
If the CD doesn’t start on its own, click on the Start button, then click on Run.
In the Open box, enter x:\setup.exe (Replace the “x” with the leter of the drive where your CD is located.) Then click on OK.
Follow the instructions on the computer screen. When the instructions ask what “destination location” to use to install the software, choose the default (suggested) directory.
When the Select Components window is displayed, choose Q Local Shared Database and Q Local Shared Report Counter (assuming this is the machine from which you want to share the report counter). Do not choose Q Local Shared Report Counter if you will be sharing the report counter from one of the workstations rather than from the database server.

To install the software on the individual workstations:

Follow steps 1 through 4 above. Also ensure that the server is on for necessary communication with the clients.
When the Select Components window is displayed, do not choose Q Local Database. Instead, choose Q Local Client (if the computer is to be used for entering tests). Only choose Q Local Shared Report Counter if you are going to share the report counter from this workstation with other workstations in the network. You will be asked for the location of the database (installed earlier on the database server).

Report Counter Note: A network can be set up with more than one report counter. For example, an individual workstation may have a report counter that has not been set up to be shared by other workstations. In this case, the Q Local software would first look to the individual workstation to see if there is a report counter from which to take a report usage. If not, then the software would look for the usage on the shared report counter.