Installation Resource

This resource is targeted towards users who are looking for more information and advanced options in deploying Acctivate. It's recommended that the standard installation process is followed for most environments and users.

It's strongly recommended that you review the information below and determine if the steps below apply to your use case.

Folder Permissions

Each install of Acctivate will create the directory C:\ProgramData\Alterity\Acctivate

These folders can be found in this directory:

  • Log: The Log folder contains the Acctivate log files
  • Reports: The Reports folder caches a local copy of custom reports which are stored in the Acctivate database. Reports that are named as {UniqueIdentifier}-{RevisionNumber}.rpt are cached copies of a report that has been previewed/printed in Acctivate. Reports that are named as {ReportName}.rpt are custom reports which have been exported for inclusion in an .acctrpt file.

C:\ProgramData\Alterity\Acctivate requires the following permissions:

  • Security permissions

    • SYSTEM: Full control
    • Administrators: Full control
    • Users: Modify
    Note

    Domain Administrators and Domain Users groups will be selected in a Windows domain environment. For workgroups, the local computer groups will be selected.

    Note

    On the computer where the Acctivate Mobile web service is running, the Log directory must give Modify permissions to the Acctivate Mobile app pool (IIS AppPool\DefaultAppPool by default).

    Note

    In versions prior to Acctivate 12.2, a shared folder named AcctivateData (C:\ProgramData\Alterity\Acctivate) was created on the server by the Acctivate installer. This folder contains the acct.ini configuration file which contains the path of the Acctivate database.

    When an existing install is updated to 12.2 or newer, the workstations will continue to use the shared AcctivateData folder on the server. To remove the dependency on this share, workstations can perform an uninstall and re-install of Acctivate. During the re-install, users will be prompted for the database connection information rather than the AcctivateData path.

Acctivate stores note and email file attachments in the SQL Server database or in OneDrive/SharePoint. However, Windows apps cannot open files directly from the database. Anytime an attachment is opened in Acctivate, a copy is downloaded from the database or OneDrive/SharePoint and saved in a folder in the Windows user's Temp directory.

You can locate this folder in C:\Users\username\AppData\Local\Temp\Acctivate (where username is the current Windows user name).

In the Security tab of the Acctivate folder's Properties window, Full control should be granted to SYSTEM, Administrators, and the user who owns this folder, as it is part of their AppData directory.

Install Components

The Acctivate installer is used to install the Acctivate.msi package and various third-party components required by Acctivate.

You can create an offline copy of the required components (except for SQL Server) and the appropriate MSI package for your Acctivate license by running the Acctivate installer with the /layout command:

  1. Download Acctivate (or a previous version of Acctivate) and save the installation file.
  2. Locate the Acctivate installation file and rename the file to setup.exe (note: Simply rename to "setup" if the file extension (i.e. exe) is not visible).
  3. Open a new Command Prompt window from the Start Menu.
  4. Change Directory (CD) to the location of the Acctivate installer file.
  5. Execute the Acctivate installer using the command: 
     setup.exe /layout
  6. The installer will open so that you can create an offline copy of the installer. Click Next.
  7. Enter your Acctivate registration credentials and click Next.
  8. If necessary, change the directory for where the offline install files should be created. Click Create.
  9. Once the offline copy has been created, click Finish.
Tip

In order to download required components and register Acctivate, certain sites may need to be whitelisted. If you are having problems downloading or registering Acctivate, you may need to whitelist the following domains:

Silent MSI Install

A non-interactive MSI install can be used to deploy Acctivate, however, you must first obtain the appropriate .msi package. Furthermore, prerequisite components files must be installed before attempting the silent install.

See the Install Components section above for instructions on obtaining the .msi package and third party component files.

Note

You must either rename the .msi to AcctivateQB.msi or modify the command line to use the .msi package name.

Run the following command line in an admin instance of Command Prompt (see additional required variables below):

msiexec /i AcctivateQB.msi /qn /l*v install.log INSTALLFOLDER="C:\Program Files (x86)\Acctivate" INSTALLDESKTOPSHORTCUT="true" SERVERNAME="SERVER" INSTANCENAME="ACCTIVATE" SQLUID="sa" SQLPASS="Password"

Depending on the type of install, Server or Workstation, the following variables are required (unless noted otherwise) and must be included as part of the command line above:

Silent Workstation Install

  • INSTALLATIONTYPE="Workstation"
  • DBPREFIX="DBPrefix" Optional. Include if the database uses a prefix.

Silent Server Install

  • INSTALLATIONTYPE="Server"
  • ACCTID="LicenseID" ACCTPASS="LicensePassword", where LicenseID and LicensePassword are replaced with your Acctivate license credentials used to register the software.
  • DBPREFIX="DBPrefix" Optional. Include if the database uses a prefix.

Silent Database Upgrade

Some Acctivate updates require an update to the database (see Database Updates for more information).

When a database update is required, the user will be prompted to begin the update when logging into an Acctivate company. Some users and hosting providers may prefer to script the database upgrade to more efficiently upgrade multiple company files.

From a command line, you can run Acctivate Database Maintenance and then add the necessary switches and company names to complete the database upgrade.

Start by calling the Acctivate Database Maintenance application and then add the necessary Update command arguments. You can find the application in the root of the Acctivate master directory, named AcctivateDBMaint.exe.

Update Command Arguments:

  • /U = Update database
  • /C = Company ID
  • /QUIET = Errors will be displayed but no informational messages
  • /SILENT = Suppress all errors and informational messages

An example of the command to upgrade the company DEMO:

"C:\Program Files (X86)\Acctivate\AcctivateDBMaint.exe" /U /C DEMO

"Database update completed" will appear when the update has finished, unless the /SILENT command is used.

Upgrade SQL Server using the Acctivate Installer

Acctivate updates can be installed on any computer where Acctivate is currently installed.

Typically, this offers the best experience for installing updates as server access is not required.

However, when an Acctivate update is installed on the server where Microsoft SQL Server is installed, the Acctivate installer can attempt to also upgrade SQL Server.

The Acctivate installer will attempt to upgrade 64-bit versions of SQL Server Express running on Windows Server 2016, Windows 10, or later, to SQL Server 2022 Express 64-bit.

32-bit versions of SQL Server Express running on Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, or earlier, will be upgraded to SQL Server 2014 Express 32-bit (the latest 32-bit version available).

The automatic upgrading of SQL Server by the Acctivate installer can be bypassed by running the installer with the command line option /NoSQLUpgrade.

  1. Download Acctivate and save the installation file.
  2. Locate the Acctivate installation file and rename the file to setup.exe (NOTE: Simply rename to “setup” if the file extension (i.e. exe) is not visible)
  3. Open a new Command Prompt window from the Start Menu
  4. Change Directory (CD) to the location of the Acctivate installer file
  5. Execute the Acctivate installer using the command:
setup.exe /NoSQLUpgrade

Install using an existing instance of SQL

The Acctivate installer will install the Express edition of Microsoft SQL Server and create an instanced named "ACCTIVATE", unless a previously installed SQL Server instance exists that is specifically named ACCTIVATE.

If you wish to install Acctivate against an existing instance of SQL not named ACCTIVATE, you can perform a command line installation.

  1. Download Acctivate and save the installation file.
  2. Locate the Acctivate installation file and rename the file to setup.exe (NOTE: Simply rename to “setup” if the file extension (i.e. exe) is not visible)
  3. Open a new Command Prompt window from the Start Menu
  4. Change Directory (CD) to the location of the Acctivate installer file
  5. Execute the Acctivate installer using one of the commands below.

SQL Authentication (Preferred for Acctivate)

setup.exe /sqlserver=SERVERNAME\INSTANCE /sqluid=sa /sqlpwd=password

Windows Authentication

setup.exe /sqlserver=SERVERNAME\INSTANCE /sqltrusted

Install IIS Components

IIS must be installed on the server where Acctivate Mobile will be installed. Refer to the install guide below.

Server OS
If the mobile server is running a Windows Server OS (refer to the System Requirements for supported server operating systems), perform the following steps:

  1. Open Server Manager
  2. Click Manage → Add Roles and Features and click Next.
  3. Select Role-based or feature-based installation and click Next.
  4. The local server is selected by default. Click Next.
  5. Select Web Server (IIS) and click Next.
  6. No additional features are needed for IIS, click Next.
  7. On the Web Server Role (IIS) screen, click Next.
  8. On the Select role services dialog box, verify that the web server components listed below are enabled. Click Next.
  9. Click Install.
  10. When the installation completes, click Close to exit the wizard.

Required IIS Components (enabled on the Select role services screen)

  • Web Server
    • Common HTTP Features
      • Default Document
      • Static Content
    • Security
      • Request Filtering
      • Basic Authentication
      • Windows Authentication
    • Application Development
      • .NET Extensibility 4.8
      • .NET Extensibility
      • ASP.NET 4.8
      • ASP.NET
      • ISAPI Extensions
      • ISAPI Filters
      • WebSocket Protocol
  • Management Tools
    • IIS Management Console
    • IIS 6 Management Compatibility
      • IIS 6 Metabase Compatibility
    • IIS Management Scripts and Tools
    • Management Service

Workgroup Host OS
If the mobile server is running a Windows Workgroup Host (refer to the System Requirements for supported workgroup operating systems), perform the following steps:

  1. In the Windows search bar, search for Turn Windows features on or off.
  2. Under Internet Information Services, enable the following features:
    • Web Management Tools → IIS Management Compatibility
    • Web Management Tools → IIS Management Console
    • World Wide Web Services → Application Development Features → ASP.NET 4.8
    • World Wide Web Services → Common HTTP Features → Static Content
  3. Click OK.