Installing Software Updates

The Acctivate Development Team is constantly seeking to improve and enhance the Acctivate software package. Software updates are available for download from the Acctivate website for all customers that have a current Software Maintenance & Support (SMS) or Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) contract.

Note

These instructions may not apply if you're using a third-party hosting company to host Acctivate.

Tip

The Acctivate installer can attempt to also upgrade Microsoft SQL Server in some cases. Check out the Installation Resource Guide for more information.

Installing a New Update

When a new update is available, the update must first be downloaded and installed on any computer where Acctivate is installed.

This download process will need to be performed by one user, however other workstations will have the opportunity to update using the same installation files (see Updating Other Workstations)

  1. Click About from the Help menu to view your current version and build number.
  2. Find your version and build number.
  3. Open the Acctivate Downloads page to check the current version. If a newer version is available on the downloads page than you have installed, download the update file on a computer where Acctivate is installed.
  4. Click “Run” from within your browser to run the installer, or double-click the file name in your Downloads folder.
  5. The Welcome window will appear, click Next.
  6. Click Install to begin the installation process.
  7. Once the install is complete, click Finish. After the installation, if you are prompted to restart, select the restart option before attempting to use Acctivate. You may now launch Acctivate.
Note

During an upgrade, Acctivate will delete WebStore and ShipWorkstation logs that are older than 30 days (based on the folder naming convention of yyyy-mm-dd). Exception logs will not be deleted.

Database Updates
Occasionally, Acctivate software updates may include changes to database definitions which require updating the database. When a database update is required you will receive the following message when logging into your Acctivate company:

A new version of Acctivate has been installed and the database must be updated. Would you like to update the database now?

A database update only needs to be performed once and must be performed by an Acctivate user with the system administrator permission. Users without the SysAdmin permission will not be able to continue with the update process and should ask a system administrator to login (a list of system admin users will be shown to non-system administrators).

Click Yes to the above message to continue. You will be prompted to make a backup. After creating a backup, the update process will continue until it completes.

You have now updated your installation of Acctivate.

Updating Other Workstations

If the database has been accessed by at least one instance of Acctivate that is newer than the version installed on your computer, you may receive the following messages:

The company database has been used with a newer version of Acctivate than the version installed on this computer, and Acctivate must be updated before you can login to this company. Would you like to download the update now?

Some Acctivate updates, once installed, may result in changes to the database structure that require all other workstations to update to the be on the same version. Acctivate will require you update before logging in. Clicking Yes will automatically start the download of the appropriate update file and begin the installation. Clicking No will exit and you will not be able to login until you update.

The company database has been used with a newer version of Acctivate than the version installed on this computer. Would you like to download the update now?

This message indicates that there has been some change to the database structure or a newer version of Acctivate has been installed. It is recommended you click Yes to automatically download and install the update, but you can click No to defer the update at this time if you wish.

After performing an update, it's recommended you make a backup and perform a sync with QuickBooks

  1. Be sure to make a backup of QuickBooks before the first sync after an upgrade.
  2. Verify you have an error free sync (no red X’s). If not, please search our Knowledge Base for the message or contact support.

Acctivate Mobile Updates

Software updates will be available for Acctivate Mobile WMS along with most Acctivate updates. The Acctivate Mobile WMS updates may affect the Acctivate Mobile WMS Web Service and/or Acctivate software on each device.

Note

You must perform this step before updating your Android or Windows Mobile device.

Note

We recommend that you install the Acctivate software updates on the server first and log in to each company before any Acctivate Mobile WMS updates.

  1. Close Acctivate on all handheld devices.
  2. Download and execute the Acctivate Mobile WMS Update package from downloads. This package should be installed on the Windows Server running the Acctivate Mobile WMS web service.
  3. After installing, browse to the Acctivate Mobile WMS webservice URL to verify it's up to date.

Once the web service has been updated, you can proceed to update the Acctivate app on the handheld devices (see below).

Android

New updates will be published to the Google Play store when they become available. Your Android device may be configured to automatically download and install these updates as they become available. If not, search for the Acctivate in the Google Play store and download the update. It's recommended that you perform the Acctivate Mobile WMS webservice update when performing the Android update.

Windows Mobile

  1. Perform the Acctivate Mobile WMS webservice update. This must be done before proceeding.
  2. Launch Acctivate on each Windows Mobile device.
  3. You will most likely see a Version Mismatch message with instructions to Open Installer Page (in the browser).
  4. Click Open Installer Page, which will close Acctivate and open the Acctivate Web Service installer page in Internet Explorer on the device.
  5. Follow steps 3-8 in the Install Acctivate on Windows Mobile devices section above.
  6. Launch Acctivate and confirm that it’s upgraded to the new version.