360 Works Cloudmail Plugin

[AndyN]

Hi,

Could do with some advice please, i am just playing with the cloud mail plugin, i am trying to install the plugin on the server.

I have copied both the FMX and FMX64 files to the following location, but it doesn't seem to register the plugin when I open the provided database, instead it asks me to install the plugin locally.

C:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Server\Database Server\Extensions

Is this the correct location ?

Thanks.

[ryan360Works]

That is the correct installation location for server side plugins. However, the Cloudmail.fmp12 example file was developed for client side use. You will need to modify it in order to use it with a server side plugin. The prompt you are seeing is because there is a start up script that checks if the plugin is installed locally and if not shows the prompt to install. You can comment out/remove that check in the start up script so you no longer see it.

[AndyN]

Hi Ryan,

 

Thanks for the reply, is there much modification required to achieve this ?

[ryan360Works]

I can't tell you exactly what all is entailed in doing so but in general:

The scripts will need to be executed with the Perform Script on Server script step which means you will need modify any buttons that are linked to scripts that execute plugin functions. You will also need to add the registration function to all scripts that call plugin functions as registration is done on a session basis because there is no mechanism in FMS to store registration like there is in FileMaker Pro. Server side scripts also need context since they are headless. This means you will need to add to the script script steps like go to layout, go record, etc. where appropriate. 

In my opinion it will probably take just as long to modify the example file as it would to start from scratch or integrating the plugin into an existing solution. If you are just trying it out, I'd recommend demoing it in FileMaker Pro before investing the time in developing a server side process.

[AndyN]

OK thanks for letting me know, is there a walkthrough for how to set up the AWS side of things ?

[ryan360Works]

Yes, see the documentation here for generating access/secret keys, here for instructions on how to put the AWS account into production mode, and here for instructions on how to verify your email address for sending. The linked videos are labeled as for the Email plugin but the process is the same for CloudMail. 

[AndyN]

OK great thanks for that will go through it, is the provided database hard coded for north virginia ?

[ryan360Works]

Yes, right now the CloudMail plugin will spawn an EC2 instance in the U.S. East(N.Virgina) region so all set up needs to be done there. We do have plans for a future version to make this a selectable option but for now you have to use the US East region