No admin rights as admin

[Xaqtly]

Here's my setup. Filemaker 8 Server with a couple databases running on it, each one configured with two admin accounts. These admin accounts are set up to allow full access.

Filemaker 8 Client. When I open FM client and use Open Remote to connect to one of the databases on the server, everything works normally, and it asks me for my username and password. I enter my admin u/p (which should give me full access), and it connects without a problem... but not with admin access. I can't create or modify records.

I've verified that it is authenticating against the accounts I set up in the DBs, since it won't let guests or random character u/ps to sign on, but it also isn't giving me admin access despite the fact that I'm logging on using an admin account.

Now, if I stop sharing the database on the server and then open the database locally on the server in FMP8, and put my admin u/p in, it works and I have admin access to change things. But if the DB is being shared through Server and I try to access it remotely, my u/p works but I don't have admin rights.

Any ideas? I'm at a loss as to why Server isn't allowing me admin rights when I connect to the DB using my admin u/p. Help!

:thanks:

[mr_vodka]

Do you have a Custom Privilege set for the account you log on as, or does your account use the "[Full Access]" privilege set?

[Xaqtly]

Do you have a Custom Privilege set for the account you log on as, or does your account use the "[Full Access]" privilege set?

Both the admin accounts are using the [Full Access] privilege set. It's an odd problem, I didn't know if I just overlooked something simple in the settings or what. I've been over them a bunch of times though, and I'm still not sure why I don't have full access when I log into the database remotely.

[mr_vodka]

Can you post a cloned copy of your file with the u+p for us to try and replicate?

[Xaqtly]

Can you post a cloned copy of your file with the u+p for us to try and replicate?

Yep, here it is. The u/p is: tech, macrules

DB_Clone.fp7.zip

[Xaqtly]

Here's some additional information, for clarity.

The only way I can get admin rights on this DB is to close it in FM Server so it's no longer being served, and then open it locally in FMP on the server. Then the admin u/p works and I can write to the DB.

If the DB is being served in Server, I can't write to the DB no matter how I log on to it. Locally on the same machine, remotely from a different machine, it doesn't matter. It takes my admin u/p and lets me in, but does not give me full access privileges.

Bottom line: The problem exists if the DB is being served in FM Server, it doesn't exist if it's not being served. This sort of leads me to believe that FM Server is what might be causing the problem, but I haven't seen any options in FM Server that would suggest this sort of privilege denial.

Any ideas?

[Vaughan]

The file looks fine, at least to a quick glance.

At this stage my first suggestion is that there is more than one copy of the database on your network, and the wrong file is being opened.

Start by zipping (or deleting) every copy you can find on your computer and the server. Then modify your "master" copy so it's obvious (I put big "THIS ONE" in big red letters on the main layout) and host it.

Rinse and repeat.

The only other suggestion is to make sure both the client and server software is patched right up. There were some bugs in FMP and FMS that needed fixing.

[Xaqtly]

At this stage my first suggestion is that there is more than one copy of the database on your network, and the wrong file is being opened.

Thanks for checking it out. Unfortunately there is only one copy of this database being served on the network as of right now, so that's probably not it.

Start by zipping (or deleting) every copy you can find on your computer and the server. Then modify your "master" copy so it's obvious (I put big "THIS ONE" in big red letters on the main layout) and host it.

I tried that with the backups I had, still no luck. Same problem.

The only other suggestion is to make sure both the client and server software is patched right up. There were some bugs in FMP and FMS that needed fixing.

My server was at 8.02, so I upgraded it to 8.04. Still didn't fix it. My client is also at the latest version (of 8.0x) which is 8.03. I appreciate the suggestions, unfortunately I still have the same problem.

There's nothing complicated about my setup, so I'm really at a loss as to why this isn't working. These are not complicated databases, and it's a really simple setup. But for some reason, if the DB is being served by Server, my admin accounts don't have full permissions. The server is even on the same vlan as the clients I'm connecting to it with.

Is it possible there's some setting in Server that I missed? It seems pretty straightforward to me, but I don't know what else it could be. I do have my databases hosted on a RAID volume attached to the server, but I also tried moving them to the internal HDD in the default DB location, and it still didn't work.

I was able to get it to work one way - by completely bypassing FM Server. I shut down the Server, opened the FMP Client (locally on the server), opened that database, turned on Sharing and after a couple warnings about not being able to share it because it was already being shared, it shared the database anyway. This worked, and I was able to connect to that database remotely via Open Remote... and my admin account has full privileges this way.

This will work in the short term, but these small databases are only my test DBs - we have one massive database that our studio uses for production, and that still hasn't been brought over to our new server yet because of these problems I'm having. So I still have to solve this issue with FM Server before I can migrate the big database.

Any other ideas? For reference, my copy of FM Server is sitting on an Apple XServe running OS X Server 10.4.11. Not sure if that's relevant or not. I'll keep trying whatever I can think of in the meantime. Sharing via the client only works when FM Server is completely shut down.

Thanks again for the advice. Please let me know if there's anything else I should try.

Edited February 17, 2009 by Guest

[Xaqtly]

Wait... I think I might have fixed it. As I mentioned, I've got my databases on a RAID volume as opposed to the internal HDD on the server. Just for giggles I checked permissions on that volume, and saw that only the local admin of the server had read/write privileges to that volume. So I went in and set group permissions for that volume to read/write for the "fmsadmin" group, which is apparently generated by FM Server.

This appears to have solved my problem. I can now log into that database remotely using my admin u/p, and I have full access. I'm trying not to jinx myself, but I think that did it. I'll keep testing it, but hopefully that was it. I'll post again if something goes horribly wrong. :

Thanks again for the help guys, I appreciate your time. I wouldn't have gotten this far without going through the process of elimination.