Setting Up MainBoss Service

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The general process for setting up MainBoss Service is described below. You can configure and test MainBoss Service without any special Windows privileges; however, when you're finished testing and are ready to install the service for real, you must have access to a login name with Windows Administration privileges and SQL Server Administration privileges.

When you first start setting up your MainBoss Service configuration, you can test it on any computer where MainBoss is installed. However, you will likely find it easier to do all your testing on the computer where MainBoss Service will eventually run. You should definitely test your configuration on that computer before actually installing MainBoss Service as a Windows service.

Some of the steps listed below may take a significant length of time. During this time, all buttons in the MainBoss window will be disabled.

  1. In MainBoss, go to Administration | MainBoss Service | Configuration and click New MainBoss Service Configuration.
  2. Enter configuration information for MainBoss Service, as described in Configuring MainBoss Service. You will need the MainBoss Administration security role, but will not need other privileges.
  3. Once you have configured MainBoss Service, you are ready to test your configuration. On the computer where you intend to run MainBoss Service, login under a login name that has Windows Administrator privileges.
  4. Start MainBoss on that computer.
  5. To test your configuration, go to Administration | MainBoss Service and click Manually run the MainBoss Service on the second drop-down button at the bottom of the window. (This can be done on any computer, but only if MainBoss Service is not currently running.)

    MainBoss will start MainBoss Service and check the configuration for valid information. If any requests have already been received by email, MainBoss Service attempts to process them. MainBoss Service also attempts to send out any required acknowledgement messages. When this processing has finished, MainBoss Service quits. (Manually run the MainBoss Service does not install MainBoss Service; it simply does a test-run of the software.)

When you test MainBoss Service in this manner, the software runs under your own login name. When you run MainBoss Service as a service, it will typically run under the login name Network Service. This may make a difference between test runs and real operations.

  1. If MainBoss Service encountered any problems during the previous steps, they will be displayed on the screen and in the log of Administration | MainBoss Service. If any messages appear, they indicate problems with your MainBoss Service configuration. You can get additional problem diagnostics by clicking MainBoss Service Configuration Diagnostics on the second drop-down button at the bottom of the window. Correct the problems, then test them again as shown above.

The drop-down button labeled Delete Trace Logging Entries provides a number of commands that let you control the diagnostic messages issued by MainBoss Service. It also lets you clean out old entries that are no longer relevant. By using these actions, you can simplify the configuration process by increasing or decreasing the quantity of messages that MainBoss Service produces.

  1. When you can test-run MainBoss Service without configuration errors, you are ready to set up the service to run automatically. Go to the computer where MainBoss Service will run, and login under a login name with Windows Administration privileges and SQL Server Administration privileges.
  2. Start MainBoss.
  3. Go to Administration | MainBoss Service and click Configure the Windows Service for MainBoss. MainBoss will create a MainBoss Service configured with all the information you have set up.

    Note: Depending on how your Windows system and MainBoss are set up, it's possible that MainBoss Service won't start correctly. If so, the MainBoss Service log files won't contain any messages (since MainBoss Service never starts running). In this case, it may be useful to check the Windows Event Viewer to see if there are any relevant event messages for MainBoss. (If you are working on one computer and trying to run MainBoss Service on a different computer, check the event logs on both comptuers.) Also check under Administration | Database Management (in the MainBoss control panel) to see if there are any relevant messages.
  4. Start the service running by clicking Start Service (on the Restart Service drop-down button). If you are working on one computer and trying to run MainBoss Service on a different computer, starting the service can take a very long time.
  5. Check the message log in Administration | MainBoss Service to make sure that everything is running correctly. Also check the "Status" line near the top of the window to make sure it says that the service is running.

If you ever want to change your MainBoss Service configuration, follow these steps:

  1. Edit the existing configuration record in Administration | MainBoss Service | Configuration and Save the changed record.
  2. Go to Administration | MainBoss Service and click Configure the Windows Service for MainBoss. This sends a message to Windows and MainBoss Service to update the configuration. It may take some time for the process to actually happen; during this time, the buttons on the window will be disabled.
  3. When the appropriate processing has finally taken place, the buttons will be enabled again. Click Restart Service to shut down the existing service and to start a new one with the new configuration. (You will need Windows Administration privileges for this to work.) Note that if the service is running on a different computer, it may take several minutes for this operation to be completed.

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