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Today I moved a file from FMS16 (macOS) to FMS21 (Ubuntu). I first closed the file on the old server, then used scp to move it to the new server. Then I moved it into the FMS databases folder and did sudo chown fmserver:fmsadmin on the file before opening it using the admin console. When I accessed the file via WebDirect, it all looked good, except that the latest 10 records or so were not present. If I access the original file on the old server, everything is fine. Any ideas?

I am also seeing that field borders won't appear in the generated PDF. Lines and boxes drawn as separate objects will, but not field borders. Anyone else seeing the same?

Migrated a file to FMS 21.1.1.40 yesterday, and one of our users alerted me that printing in WebDirect was only generating a blank page without text. I found that this is because the layout uses Helvetica font, which is not installed by Ubuntu (server is on 22.04LTS). It looks like the server should have a substitute: $ fc-match Helvetica NimbusSans-Regular.otf: "Nimbus Sans" "Regular" Is it FileMaker Server that isn't doing something right, maybe?

Success! If you inspect the file icons on the WebDirect launch page using the browser tools, it looks like you'd have to monkey with Java code in order to override anything. However, realizing that you can get to a file at the URL "/fmi/webd/DBNAME", I thought FM must be simply issuing an HTTP request in their Java, and wondered if a simple Apache redirect might do it. Turns out, it works! Here's what I did -- Old server: Mac Mini running macOS Sierra (10.12.6), FileMaker Server 16 New server: Ubuntu 22 server, FileMaker Server 21.1.1.40 On the old server, edit the file /Library/FileMaker Server/HTTPServer/conf/httpd.conf and at the end of the file add: #Redirect to new server <Location "/fmi/webd/myFMDB"> Redirect "https://newserver/fmi/webd/myFMDB?homeurl=https://oldserver/fmi/webd" </Location> The "homeurl" parameter in the redirect URL makes it so that the user will come back to the original WebD launch page when they close the file on the new server. Other than the URL in the browser, the user shouldn't notice a difference. And if you wanted to do a fancier redirect with URL rewriting, you could do a pass-thru of the original URL. In order to get the "homeurl" feature to work, you have to edit a file on the new server. Edit the file /opt/FileMaker/FileMaker Server/Web Publishing/conf/jwpc_prefs.xml and update these values: <parameter name="homeurlenabled">yes</parameter> <parameter name="customhomeurl">https://oldserver</parameter> Enter only the domain for the "customhomeurl" parameter! This tripped me up for a while. I had entered "https://oldserver/fmi/webd", but it wouldn't work. Gotta read all the notes! See this page from Claris. Now that that's done (don't forget to restart WPE on the new server with "fmsadmin restart wpe") you can bounce Apache on the old server. Use this to avoid disrupting currently connected users: sudo /Library/FileMaker\ Server/HTTPServer/bin/httpdctl graceful Your redirect should now be working! One other thing that tripped me up - if your FM file has spaces in the name, don't use the %20 code in your Location tag in the Apache conf. Just do: <Location "/fmi/webd/My File With Spaces"> Hope this helps somebody!

When I saw FMS complain about needing JDK 17, I assumed that meant a minimum version of 17, so I installed OpenJDK 23.0.2. Just completed an install of FMS 21.1.40 (macOS) and the admin console still complains about JDE 17. Do you really have to have version 17, and ONLY version 17? What's the reason for that? Seems kind of silly...

Hello, We use the default WebDirect Launch Center page for our apps. (FMS 16) I'm wondering if there might be a way to override the destination of individual items. I'm working on updating/migrating to a new server, and would like to do it one file at a time, as I'm able to, without the users having to do anything different. For example, users go to the WebD page on ServerA, click the icon for File1, and have the browser actually go to ServerB/fmi/webd/NewFile. Is this possible, aside from creating a custom home page (which would throw off the users)?

Are you using the FileMaker default SSL cert, by any chance?

I downloaded the most recent installer package (21.0.2.202) and ran the installer. Everything worked nicely. Running `ps -A | grep fm` showed lines for "fmshelper", "fmsib", "fmserverd", and "fmsased". Apache was also running. To see if it would come back up after a power glitch, I did a `sudo reboot now`. The FM server did not come back up. I thought I must need to manually set them up using `systemctl enable`, but the system seems unable to find the services. If I try `fmsadmin start server`, the command returns `Error: 10007 (Requested object does not exist)`. Any ideas? The FileMaker installation documentation simply ends after telling you to run `ps -A` to verify that the installer worked.

Wow, no posts in this category yet. Surprising. I've been playing with installing FMS24 on Ubuntu 22.04.3. I first tried an upgrade on top of the existing FMS23 install, because our IT guy said we should learn if we could. The install seemed to go fine. The admin console launched and things seemed fine. I saw something about rebooting to make the settings persist, so I did that, but FMS did not come back up with the system. I then tried doing a `sudo apt remove filemaker-server` and a fresh install, but experience the same behavior after reboot. I don't see any instructions about making FMS start on boot, so I thought the installer was taking care of all that. Am I missing something? I should mention that the server is on an internal network with no access to the Internet.

Cool. I thought I had heard/seen something about Server 2023 only being compatible back to 19.4... Looks like I'll still have to get a newer Mac in order to run Pro, though. Doh! Thanks!

Can Server 2023 open FMP16 files without first needing to open and resave those files in an in-between version of FMP, like 19?

Ah, I think I understand, now! Thank you for the enlightenment!

Doh! I've been saying "current date" this whole time, but, you're right - FM is entering the value of A::endDate for B::Date. In my test file (attached) that would be Friday, 6/30. I guess my brain has been ready for it to be Friday for a while. 😄 Curiously, if I click in one of the other portal fields first, then use the date picker, the value will remain as selected. Does that mean that, by activating the calendar button first, you aren't really entering the actual field in the portal row, and therefore no record is created in which to store the selected value? The field isn't entered until the date picker is closed, at which point the value has been forgotten? DateTest.fmp12

I was able to reproduce the behavior in a new file. I think it has to do with the relationship to the portal table. I must not understand something about how it works. Here's a simple example: Table A has fields ID (number), startDate, and endDate. Table B has fields ID, Date, and Hours. The relationship is defined as A::ID = B::ID and A::startDate <= B::Date and A::endDate >= B::Date. The checkbox to allow creation of records in Table B via the relationship is checked. The layout for Table A has a portal to Table B, with the B::Date field being a drop-down calendar. I had thought that clicking in the Date field in a new row of the portal would create a new related record, automatically filling in the value of A::ID for B::ID, and setting the value of B::Date to whatever was selected in the drop-down calendar. Instead, it seems that the record is created, but the current date is entered for B::Date. I thought maybe this is because the related record isn't committed until you click outside the date field, but if you switch to the layout for Table B, you can see that the record was clearly committed. It just doesn't contain the date selected in the drop-down calendar. I know I could work around this by making global fields on the Table A layout and attaching a script to a button that does the actual creation of the record in Table B. But now I'm curious to understand what I'm missing as to how the portal works, just to further my knowledge. Thanks for your time! I appreciate it!

I have a date field on a layout (in a portal, if that makes any difference) that allows the user to select a date with the drop-down calendar. I noticed that it is replacing the date selected by the user with the current date, at least at first. If you click it again and re-select the desired date, it will stick the second time. There are no auto-enter options or default values set. I have the 4-digit year and not empty requirement boxes checked. What gives? This is in FMP 16.

Hello, I can create a PDF from multiple layouts, but the user first has to download the file to view it. Is there any way to display the newly created PDF in a new browser tab, as happens when you "print" from WebDirect? It would be nice to save the user the extra steps. Thanks!

@dtsvirinko I contacted the sales rep, who had the support team generate a new license certificate. The error went away after that. Now we have to figure out if we can/want to pay the extra thousands of dollars per year, or if we just won't run the latest version in order to avoid the SaaS model.

Hmm... I don't know. Our accounting department did the renewal, so I don't know what options are available. I don't see anything about different license types on the Claris website, unless I'm just not finding the right page. I have an email address for someone in their sales group. I'll have to ask. Thanks for the tip!

I recently tried upgrading to FM 19.3 and was greeted with the message, "This version cannot run with expired maintenance." Claris Support helped me resolve this, as we had just renewed earlier this year. However, I was just wondering if this message means that FM is essentially becoming "rental software" that you can't run indefinitely unless you keep paying. That would make the long-term cost quite expensive!

Hello, Last week I installed FMS 19.3 on Ubuntu Server 18.04, following the instructions in the article "The Penguin is Back!" The machine is on our internal network, which has no access to the outside world. I expected the performance to be pretty snappy with WebDirect, but that's not what I've seen so far. When I access the admin console from another machine on our LAN, it responds and renders almost immediately. But when I call up the WebDirect menu page, it takes about 10 seconds to load. Right now, I only have one small file on the server. When I click on its icon, it takes about 10 seconds for the login prompt to appear. Then, after logging in, it takes it a little while to correctly render the first layout. The layout is pretty simple - just a button bar and some text. But sometimes the button bar will just be outlined without the fill color for a few seconds. What are some things I could check for proper operation?

I'm a dunce. I'll blame it on the triple-digit heat and smoke in our area making me not see the obvious. 😄 In my defense, someone else created this particular file long before me, and I don't work with FileMaker all the time, so sometimes I forget all the settings. Thanks for getting me back on the right track! Things are working nicely, now.

Thanks, comment! The Users privilege set already had create and edit privileges, so it must be the checkbox that shows the "Revert" option. Not sure how I didn't see that. Tired eyes, I guess. 😴 The problem is that I want to allow reverting of a new record, but I don't want to allow users to override the data validation. It seems to be all or nothing. I'm tinkering with scripts to try to accomplish it. So far, the best I've come up with is something like like this, attached to the layout trigger OnRecordCommit: If [Get (RecordOpenState) = 1] If [Title = "" or Created_By = "" or Reason = ""] Show Custom Dialog["Values Required"; "Go back or Cancel Record?"] If [Get (LastMessageChoice) = 2] Revert Record/Request [With dialog: Off] Go to Layout ["View Details"; Animation: None] Else Exit Script [Text Result: True] End If End If End If I put a red "Cancel New Record" button on the layout, hidden unless Get (RecordOpenState) = 1 but the script fires any time the user clicks outside of a field, so it's really just a dummy target. Not the most elegant solution, but it seems to work okay. Thanks again for your help!

I had a user today who couldn't exit a new record (created on accident) because the Title field is set to require a value. When I log in with the Full Access privilege set, I am given the option to revert the record or allow the field to remain blank. If logging in with the user privilege set, those options are not given. I thought that the missing revert option was probably because the user privileges didn't include the ability to delete records. I did some research and found that I could allow delete if the calculation Get (RecordOpenState) = 1 evaluates to true, meaning that it's a new record that hasn't been committed. So now the delete button will allow the user to delete the new record. However, the "Revert Record" button still does not appear in the data validation error dialog, and I can't find anything that controls whether or not the user should be allowed to override the data validation during entry. Anybody know?

Good to know. I thought something was wrong with the install or setup, but the ServerDiscovery preference is set to false by default on Linux. We only run FileMaker on an internal-only, air-gapped network, so the SSL bit isn't of much concern. But it's nice to know that I can hide the server from automatic discovery! We want most users to be accessing files via WebDirect, anyhow. Thanks for the help!

This morning I discovered that there is a '+' button next to the search box in the Hosts dialog. If I type in the host name or IP into the search box, nothing is found. However, if I click the '+' button to add an entry into the Favorites list and enter the name or IP there, the server is found right away! This made me think that there was no auto-discovery service (like Bonjour) running on the CentOS server. I looked into that, and discovered that the linux version of Bonjour is 'avahi'. I checked the server, and avahi appears to be running. It even looks like it was started by FMS: [FM19Test ~]: ps -ef | grep avahi avahi 812 1 0 Aug03 ? 00:00:21 avahi-daemon: running [FM19Test.local] avahi 827 812 0 Aug03 ? 00:00:00 avahi-daemon: chroot helper Is there anything else that needs to be done to make the server automagically appear in the Hosts window of desktop clients?