AuditWizard™ V7 How to Share the AuditWizard™ Database and Access it Remotely This document applies to AuditWizard™ Standard and SQL versions Important Document informationThere are 3 defined common methods that are widely used by many organizations globally to share the AuditWizard™ Database to other users for viewing the data, uploading results and creating and running reports. Please note, the standard version allows for multiple users with View access (simultaneously), where only a single user with Write access may actually make changes to the program (one at a time), upload results, etc. The SQL version is not affected by this limitation, as it allows for multiple users with Write access to be logged in simultaneously. Note - If multiple installs of the product exist, when updating one copy, all have to be updated or the non-upgraded copies may not be able to connect to the database. When the upgraded client installation upgrades the database, the remaining client installs are still configured to read from the old database format and will be denied access. WARNING- We highly recommend creating an extra copy of the ‘Main.adb’ file to another area of the PC/server before continuing with any of these steps or if running SQL then back up from Enterprise Manager. This will allow recovery from any mistakes made, or any other unforeseen circumstances. Remote Access Method - Server based copy (Most Recommended) In this ‘Remote Access method’, you can copy a shortcut to as many PC’s as you like. This method is the most recommended when multiple users are accessing the program. This method simplifies the Page 1 How to Share the Database update process, as you will only have to update one copy of Audit Wizard™ rather than several across the network. Another major benefit to running a single copy is that the location and the configuration of the AuditWizard™ Profiles will all be maintained and read by the one copy of the software. Each installation of AuditWizard™ will keep their own separate Profile configurations and there is no way for multiple client installs to see each other’s profiles, unless the ‘Remote Access method’ is used. 1- Install Audit Wizard™ to a server that is easily accessible. Note- If you plan to allow remote access to the server via Terminal Services or similar, you will not need to share the program folder as mentioned in the steps below (same for SQL versions), as this will mimic being logged on locally to the Server/PC. In this case, start up the remote session and open the program through the Start menu or you can create a shortcut to be placed on the desktop of the Terminal client. 2- Share the folder that it is installed to, calling it something like ‘AudwizDB’. By default, the database is located in the program folder (default install folder is ‘C:\Program Files\AuditWizard V7’). Permissions will most likely need to be added in order for the other remote users to access the share and run the application. 3- Go to the Profile Tab>Active Profile>User Interface>General Settings and click the change button next to the path to the database, then browse through Network Neighborhood/My Network Places to the share that is visible to the network. Page 2 How to Share the Database 4- Once the share is selected and confirmed, you will see a pop up like this one below that advises you that the program, has found an existing database in this location. Although this is the same database, it must be switched by clicking yes. 5- The UNC path specified in Profile Tab>Active Profile>User Interface>General Settings where it says ‘Database path’ should now show something similar to the screen shot below. It is imperative to make sure that the database path is listed as a UNC path or a mapped network drive. If this is listed as a local path (such as, C:\Program Files\AuditWizard V7), the database will not be recognized when launching remotely resulting in an error that states, ‘Failed to initialize Knowledgebase Engine’. 6- Now that the database is shared you can create a shortcut that leads to the executable for Audit Wizard™ from the server to your desktop. From My Network Places, Browse to the PC where the share is, then Right click on ‘Audwiz.exe’, point to ‘Send To’> ‘Desktop (create shortcut)’, as shown in the screen shot below. Page 3 How to Share the Database 7- Now you should be able to execute the program remotely from the shortcut on your desktop. This short cut will need to be copied to ALL PC’s that are to run AuditWizard. 8- For SQL versions of AuditWizard™, a DSN (Data Source Name) will need to be created at each workstation in order for the remote PC to make a connection to the SQL server database. Please refer to the SQL section at the bottom of this document. Client to Server method – This method will allow you to move the database to a server so that multiple copies of Audit Wizard™ can access the server-based database from their PC. Here are some steps to follow in this process: 1- Create a share on the server called something like 'AudwizDB' or something you can be familiar with. Permissions will most likely need to be added in order for the other remote users to access the share and read the database. 2- From the Profile Tab>Active Profile>User Interface>General Settings click the change button, and then browse through Network Neighborhood/My Network Places to the newly created share. It is preferable to use the UNC name for this, which is identified in your Neighborhood/My Network Places automatically once you select the folder (you can also use a mapped drive as well). Page 4 How to Share the Database 3- Once the share is selected you will see a message asking that Audit Wizard will now relocate the main database to the new share. Click OK. Audit Wizard™ will automatically copy the necessary files to the shared folder for you. 4- Once the database path has been selected, a path much like the one below should be visible from the Interface>General Settings: Profile Tab>Active Profile>User Local PC Method – This method will allow you to use an existing copy of Audit Wizard™ that has an existing or new database. In this method you can share Page 5 How to Share the Database the folder that the program is installed to and have secondary copies connect to the shared database across the network. Here are some steps to follow in this process: 1- Verify the database path from the Profile Tab>Active Profile>User Interface>General Settings where it says ‘Database path’. 2- In Windows, share the folder that is specified in the Profile Tab>Active Profile>User Interface>General Settings for the database path. 3- Once the database folder is shared, you can go to the secondary copies of Audit Wizard™ and go to the Profile Tab>Active Profile>User Interface>General Settings and click the change button. Browse to the PC where the database is located and select the path. 4- There will be a message stating that a database already exists in this location. It will ask you if you wish to switch to this database by clicking YES, or to Overwrite this database by clicking NO. Click YES. 5- Now the secondary copy should see all the data and be able to upload and view the same database as well. Page 6 How to Share the Database SQL Server DSN configuration – This section outlines how to create the DSN (Data Source Name) to connect the clients to the SQL server. This must be done for all AuditWizard™ SQL installations or the software will not be able to communicate with the SQL server. When installing AuditWizard™ SQL Server edition, this DSN will be created automatically by default from the credentials entered during the installation process of the software. If you are using the ‘Remote Access Method’, please follow the steps below. 1- Go to the Control Panel>Administrative Tools>Data Sources (ODBC). Click on the System DSN Tab, then click Add. 2- After clicking create, a screen will appear like the one below that prompts for the type of connection to be used. In this case, select ‘SQL Server’, then click Finish. Page 7 How to Share the Database 3- Create the Name as ‘AudWiz’, then under the Server, type in the correct SQL server name or IP address, then click Next. 4- Choose the type of authentication to be used to authenticate to the SQL server. If a Domain user account is authorized on the SQL server, you can Page 8 How to Share the Database choose ‘With NT authentication’. If no Domain accounts exist, the best option is ‘With SQL Authentication’, which allows you to specify the SQL server user name and password in the provided boxes, or if left blank, will prompt the user when launching AuditWizard™ SQL. Click Next to continue. 5- Ensure the ‘Change Default database to’ is set to the AudWiz database, and match all other check marks on this screen, then click Next. 6- Match check marks on this screen, then click Finish. Page 9 How to Share the Database 7- This last screen summarizes the configurations. Click the ‘Test Data Source’ button to ensure the connection will communicate with the server. 8- After a successful test of this DSN, it can be closed and the client should now be ready to be launched and connect to the AudWiz database. Page 10 How to Share the Database Document updated 11/20/2006 Page 11 How to Share the Database