Networking EPIM within the home

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soacckj
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Networking EPIM within the home

Post by soacckj »

We have three computers in our home that need to use EPIM. Is it possible to do that in a way that they share the same database at the same time? I have EPIM Pro 9.5.2 with 3 licenses running on Windows 10, fully up to date.
soacckj
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by soacckj »

I should have mentioned that I have the business edition.
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by MetalDrop »

soacckj wrote: Fri Dec 11, 2020 8:10 pm We have three computers in our home that need to use EPIM. Is it possible to do that in a way that they share the same database at the same time? I have EPIM Pro 9.5.2 with 3 licenses running on Windows 10, fully up to date.

I should have mentioned that I have the business edition.
That is what the business edition is made for.

Here's the online help topic:

https://www.essentialpim.com/help/index ... verhhh.htm

You can also find information in the Help > Help Contents inside EPIM as well.

That should get you started.\


Note: Only the computer that is going to be hosting the Database to share needs the firebird server installed and configured.

The main thing you'll probably need to configure is windows firewall by going to Control Panel > Windows Defender Firewall > left hand bar > Allow an app or feature through windows .... firewall > Select the fbserver.exe in the C:\Program Files (x86)\Firebird\Firebird_2_5\bin folder
EPIM Portable Pro Running/Tested On: Windows 11 Pro 64-bit US-ENG|i5-6400+Quadro P620|i7-7700K+1050ti|i7-8700K+970GTX|AMD 5600x+1080ti|16GB+RAM&NVMe SSDs
[I'm helpful and often reply to questions, however I am just a fellow user and not staff.]
soacckj
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by soacckj »

Thank you for the constructive reply. Will let you know how I get on.
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by outlinerone »

Have Windows Defender firebird enabled and set up EPIM on the main computer where located.
Not able to connect though from other PCs.
May be due to location differences. For example, the database file is located in a folder on external drive directly connected to main PC (drive I). On other PC, it references the external drive as drive Z. For now am the only user, and interested in accessing the database(s) from 2 PCs, a tablet, phone, and possibly the cloud (or just centrally locate there for access anywhere as long as I'm confident is getting backed up correctly). Just looking to optimal way to set it up for ease of access to my database files.
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by MetalDrop »

outlinerone wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 9:05 pm Have Windows Defender firebird enabled and set up EPIM on the main computer where located.
Not able to connect though from other PCs.
May be due to location differences.
If you can access the computers with windows file sharing that's all you need to know that the computers are setup in a usable network location.

Having your windows firewall rules is the most important step, you'll need to allow EPIM through inbound and outbound on all systems, and allow Firebird through inbound/outbound on the server. This can be a very important step depending on where you are setting up the firewall rules, and if you have your network set to Private or public on each computer.

If you are using a strange router of some kind it may also have built in protection that could need some tweaking, but that isn't normally the case.
EPIM Portable Pro Running/Tested On: Windows 11 Pro 64-bit US-ENG|i5-6400+Quadro P620|i7-7700K+1050ti|i7-8700K+970GTX|AMD 5600x+1080ti|16GB+RAM&NVMe SSDs
[I'm helpful and often reply to questions, however I am just a fellow user and not staff.]
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by outlinerone »

MetalDrop wrote: Sun Aug 15, 2021 4:43 am
outlinerone wrote: Sat Aug 14, 2021 9:05 pm Have Windows Defender firebird enabled and set up EPIM on the main computer where located.
Not able to connect though from other PCs.
May be due to location differences.
If you can access the computers with windows file sharing that's all you need to know that the computers are setup in a usable network location.

Having your windows firewall rules is the most important step, you'll need to allow EPIM through inbound and outbound on all systems, and allow Firebird through inbound/outbound on the server. This can be a very important step depending on where you are setting up the firewall rules, and if you have your network set to Private or public on each computer.

If you are using a strange router of some kind it may also have built in protection that could need some tweaking, but that isn't normally the case.
Never could get it to work from other devices. I disabled the Windows Firewall on the main system where the database accessed and still got the same error message when trying to open the EPIM file (which opens fine from the main system). I enter the password for the user and get:
Could not find database'

UPDATE: Got it to work. Had to specify the full name of the EPIM database file when connecting. I was just referring to the folder that it is in.
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by outlinerone »

Ok, not working again.
Seems every time I update the EPIM version as a beta tester it breaks Firebird from working. Now can't access database from other computer in the network from EPIM. Get a "could not find database" error even though I can access the folder from another computer fine. Don't think my firewall has anything to do with this.
So what is a seamless way around this problem? Am wanting to access an EPIM database from an external drive for any of my local devices (PC, laptop, tablet) to access. Would just putting the database on dropbox to access from each device be the best route?
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by outlinerone »

Accessing the EPIM database from Dropbox from multiple devices seems to work fine, although it may get confusing when making updates. Also, when accessing the database from Dropbox it just brings up the contents of the Notes section and no other sections.
Just want a seamless way to access a central EPIM database from multiple devices (preferably backup synced in the cloud). Seems to be a hassle to do this in a Windows network, especially as EPIM is updated to newer versions.
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by MetalDrop »

I don't use dropbox, so can't comment on how well that features works but I do use the network version of EPIM quite a lot, and I can't say I've ever had it breaking connection wise where it wasn't my own fault or Microsoft's. During one windows 10 update my drive letters got shuffled around [that was disastrous always have a screen shot of your drive letters], and during a handful of other windows 10 updates Microsoft saw it fit to reset my firewall settings for security reasons.

Can you think of anything else you might have done around the same time as the update?

You mention external drive, so it's possible that your drive letter changed on you.
EPIM Portable Pro Running/Tested On: Windows 11 Pro 64-bit US-ENG|i5-6400+Quadro P620|i7-7700K+1050ti|i7-8700K+970GTX|AMD 5600x+1080ti|16GB+RAM&NVMe SSDs
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by outlinerone »

Not really. Can see the external drive from Windows folders on each device.
PC is Windows 7, laptop is Windows 10, Android tablet. Can each access the external hd connected to the laptop just fine and also the folder contents where the EPIM database resides. Can open other files in that folder from other devices, but not any EPIM databases that reside there either by clicking on the database file name directly or by trying to open from within EPIM.
Get same generic EPIM error - "could not find database"

Works like a charm from dropbox, just doesn't show real time updates made when the database is open at the same time on multiple devices.
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by Keldi »

I don't use network version, ignore this if I'm way off here.
You've mentioned a beta version. Are you using the same version of EPIM on all computers now? Version 10 is a major version release, and EPIM 9.x.x probably can't open databases that were edited with it.
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by Rose Ford »

outlinerone wrote: Mon Oct 04, 2021 7:14 pm Not really. Can see the external drive from Windows folders on each device.
PC is Windows 7, laptop is Windows 10, Android tablet. Can each access the external hd connected to the laptop just fine and also the folder contents where the EPIM database resides. Can open other files in that folder from other devices, but not any EPIM databases that reside there either by clicking on the database file name directly or by trying to open from within EPIM.
Get same generic EPIM error - "could not find database"

Works like a charm from dropbox, just doesn't show real time updates made when the database is open at the same time on multiple devices.
When connecting over a network you are always using: Main Menu > file > Connect to server...
and not Main Menu > File > Open, correct?

Sever address is the name of your computer which can be found in windows 10 by going into the settings app, and typing: "name" to get the entry: "View your PC name" it should be under device name:

Then the file path needs to be how it appears on the computer you are connecting too, not a network share address. .epim files don't need to be in a shared folder, they are served by the firebird server and can be located anywhere on the system that the server has file permissions to access.

By default you will need the login info:
User: SYSDBA
Password: masterkey

You also most do this on the computer that the database is hosted on as well. If you have the database open as a local file on the host then it will be locked and the firebird server won't be able to serve it to other computers.

In general it is very important never to use "Main menu > File > Open", nor to double click to open a database that you want to be accessed on a network.
2021-10-04_220747.jpg
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by outlinerone »

Revisited this again. Went thru the steps again and get the same result both on the server side and desktop wanting to access the file from.
User name and password not defined, and to set up Firebird login.
Firebird SQL Server is enabled for private/public in the Windows Defender Firewall on the server.
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Re: Networking EPIM within the home

Post by outlinerone »

Revisiting again to see if a more seamless method has been created. Would like to access a central EPIM database from multiple computers in a network.
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