How to Configure FM Server 7 Advance Properly

[armeen]

hi. i am very very confused setting up the server advance on my g4 machine. the admin guide is rather confusing. i have alrady spent over 5 hours going through it but i'm still not able to set up the server settings properly.

i need to set up the server so that users both over the network and the web can have access to the server. it seems that i need to configure the web publishing with the server somewhere but i'm not clear where? also how can my users access to the server? is the ip address enough?

i tried to find a resourse place on the web that has clearly explained how to set up the server properly except the confusing admin guide!!! any help or guidance is extremely appreciative. [color:"black"]

[Barbecue]

This is a pretty broad question.

Local users can access the server via the IP address.

Web publishing requires you to set up the FM Server itself, the web publishing engine, and a separate web server that's provided with your OS (Apache in your case). These pieces can all be on the same computer, or they can be on separate computers.

Here are a couple of links you might find useful.

http://www.fmwebschool.com/fm7iwp.htm

http://www.filemaker.com/downloads/pdf/techbrief_fm7_web_publishing.pdf

[armeen]

thanks for your reply. as of right now i have setuped both the server and server advance but i can not access to the server from the local network neither via web. i tried to ping the server ip and it sends and recieves packages! any ideas!

[armeen]

ok i got my problem fixed. now i just need to know how to view my databases via web browser? i mean what address do i put to get at it and see it.

thanks.

[Claus Lavendt]

I am not sure how far you have come, but;

1) update the serial number in fms admin so that you have web engine allowed.

2) make sure you have installed the 2. cd (Advanced)

3) under configure->clients in the fms admin add a fm web publishing engine and write an identifier (a name you choose) and a passcode (you choose) write those down !

4) make sure you have enabled web engine sessions (start with eg 100)

5) open system pref and choose sharing. -> enable personal web sharing

6) choose firewall and enable port 5003 (for FM clients to be able to connect )

7) open your web browser and enter the machine's IP address: eg 192.168.1.2/fmi/config

8) enter the identifier and passcode, that you wrote down before (this is case sensitive)

9) configure the engine to serve either/both Instant web / custom web

10) If you haven't allready set your files to enable web access, you need to open the database files in FM and make sure that the privileges set allow instant web and/or custom web (xslt and/or xml)

This is documented clearly.

;-) Claus

[armeen]

Claus:

Thank you so much for the clear, step by setp instructions. On step 6, do I need to have the firewall turned on or off? also, there is no port as 5003? There are others, but not 5003. Do i need to create one? or should it been created automatically?

Many thank in advance,

Armeen

[Fenton]

Create it. It's easy, just create one and type 5003, name it FileMaker or something. It would be nice if FileMaker could tell you to do this, as it catches everyone off guard.

[armeen]

thanks for your response. i have created the 5003 port and i can see my database through instant web publishing page (ip_address/fmi/config) however when i click on the database to open it up, it asks me for the user name and password. i was under the impression that it is the same as the identifier and passcode, but it is not letting me in! any ideas?

[Claus Lavendt]

Hi

Whenever you want to log into your database, you'll need to login using an accountname and password you created for that database file. Which client you use (FM client, web client) doesn't matter regarding the login.

The identifier and passcode is for administration only !

;-) Claus

[armeen]

this database file was given to me and it is a fm7 file. the person who created said that she did not set any user name and password! i'm using the web client.

so i can have as many as identifer and passcode as i want to administrat my database?

thanks,

armeen

[Claus Lavendt]

Let me clearify:

Identifier/passcode is what you set within the configure>client tab in FMS Admin. Theese are used to connect to the FM web engine. (the engine who enables you to access your databases from a web browser)

You need the Identifier/passcode when you have to configure the web engine.

The Account name/Password is what you set within the FM file. You need to open the file in FM to do so. (File>Define>accounts & privileges)

For every user, that should access the database, you create an account and password. (As many as you like) Set their privileges. And remember to have one Administrator account/password that have access to all.

By default, Filemaker create an admin account (accountname: Admin password: [empty])

So if no accounts has been specified, you must use the default account (admin).

You should read the documentation regarding accounts & privileges.

;-) Claus

[armeen]

Thanks alot for the clear explanation.

I was told that in order to have a FM file to be share on the web, one of the step is to have the file always open on the machine that is functioning as the web engine. I have my file setuped to be shared on the web and i can have access to it via web w/o any problem but I don't have the file opened at all from the web engine machine. Any comments about that?

Thanks,

Armeen

[Claus Lavendt]

Look at it this way;

Filemaker Server is hosting the FM files. This means that FM server, and that alone, opens the FM files. Anyone who wants to access the files, needs to do connect to the FM server in order to do that. This can be done in 3 ways;

1) Open Remote from a FM client (or developer)

2) Through a webbrowser that log on to the FM Web engine. FM Web engine makes the connection to the FM Server. (Filemaker Instant Web, XML or XSLT)

The Filemaker Web engine can be installed on a separate machine, from the FM Server. This is a good thing to do, if you have a lot of traffic on the website.

3) Through ODBC or JDBC connectors.

When FM Files is hosted in network, the files is ALLWAYS opened and hosted by Filemaker Server only.

;-) Claus

[armeen]

thanks for your input. i'm referring to accessing fm files on the server advance via web browser. my guess is that you don't need to have them opened on the server machine in order for other users to be able to have access to them via browser. what doesn't make sense to me is that why do the fm file need to be opended if they are hosted on the network, because it makes sense that once they are set up to be shared, they should be available to be accessed regardless of if they are opened or not on the server machine.