Installation Instructions - Database Server

There are 4 things to do to get this working.

    1. Install SQL Express (you can skip this step if you already have a SQL Server you want to use ).

    2. Configure SQL Express to allow TCP/IP connections from the network.

    3. Run a script on the server to create the Simply Track Time database.

    4. Configure Simply Track Time to use the SQL Express server.

These instructions are based on default settings and drive paths. If you want to something different then they still may be a useful guide.


1. Install SQL Express.

If you do not have a handy SQL Express installation that you can use have a look at this web page http://www.microsoft.com/express/sql/download/. Basically all you need to install is the runtime engine - so you can either click the Install button for runtime only - or click the Install It Now! button at the top. Follow the installation instructions but make sure that when the questions about authentication come up - you pick the SQL Authentication option. You'll be asked for a password. The wizard will make choose a strong password. Depending on the state of your computer there might be several reboots required to complete this stage.

2. Configure SQL Express to accept TCP/IP connections.

Simply Track Time connects to SQL Express using TCP/IP so you need to enable this protocol. You might also need to allow incoming connections on port 1433 if your computer firewall is enabled.

    1. Press the Start menu button and launch Microsoft SQL Server - Configuration Tools - SQL Server Configuration Manager.

    2. In the tree on the left, select SQL Server Configuration Manager (Local) - SQL Server Network Configuration - Protocols for SQLEXPRESS. In the pane on the right, right click the TCP/IP item and select Enable. Click OK to dismiss the warning that the changes will not take effect until the SQL Server service is stopped and restarted.

    3. In the tree on the left, select SQL Server Configuration Manager (Local) - SQL Native Client Configuration - Client Protocols. In the tree on the right, make sure the following item is enabled: TCP/IP - right click it and select Enable.

    4. In the tree on the left, select SQL Server Configuration Manager (Local) - SQL Server Services. In the pane on the right, right click the SQL Server Browser item and select Properties. In the SQL Server Browser Properties dialog, switch to the Service tab, make sure the Start Mode option is set to Automatic, then click OK. Right click the SQL Server Browser item again and select Start. Right click the SQL Server (SQLEXPRESS) item and select Restart.

    5. Close SQL Server Configuration Manager.

    6. If you have Windows Firewall turned on then launch Control Panel - Windows Firewall, select the Exceptions tab, and specify the configured ports as exceptions - the default port is 1433.

3. Create the database.

You can either run this script from the SQL Server Management Studio if you have it installed or you can do it from the command line. Here are instructions to do it from the command line:

    1. Press the Start menu button and type cmd in the Run Command box or in the Search box depending on the version of Windows you are using.

    2. By default Simply Track Time is installed in the c:\program files\simply track time\ - so change to this directory

      1. c:\>cd program files\simply track time\server.

      2. c:\>osql -S .\sqlexpress -E -i simply.sql

      3. You should now see a series of number 1> 2> 3> 4>.... counting up.

    3. You can check that the database has been created by looking for the file simply.mdf and simply_log.ldf in this directory C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQLEXPRESS\MSSQL\DATA or whereever the SQL Express database files are located on your server.

4. Configure Simply Track Time

    1. In Simply Track Time select Tools | Options on the menu.

    2. Change the Database Mode option to Multi User

    3. Change the name of the server to <server name>\sqlexpress - for example if you are doing this on the server the test would read localhost\sqlexpress. But if you are doing it on a workstation you would enter servername\sqlexpress.

    4. Click Next until you can click Save and Close

    5. Simply Track Time will close.

    6. Restart Simply Track Time.

    7. If you see the calendar then everything has worked correctly.

    8. If you see the Database Mode option box again then there is a problem with Simply Track Time connecting to the database.