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Application Log Entries on Windows
Server
FileMaker Server and backups (Multi User
Only)
FileMaker Server and Restoring Backups
(Multi User Only)
What is involved in upgrading to a new
server?
Port Numbers for FileMaker Server 8
Application Log Entries on Windows Server
I’ve noticed the Application Log fills up very quickly
since we installed FileMaker Server. Is there anything
that can be done about this?
FileMaker Server logs everything that happens with
Complete Data users and files. With so many files and
users the log file can fill up very quickly with information
entries. Following is some advice you might find helpful
in dealing with the application log and FileMaker Server:In
W2K Server, change the settings of the Event Log to
the following: - Start the Event Viewer and choose Action/Properties
- in this dialog, in the Log Size part, change the default
setting from the tiny 512K to something larger like
5Mb (5120) or 10Mb. This should be a small portion of
the hard disk free space on a typical W2K Server - in
this same dialog, change the default setting of 'Overwrite
events older than 7 days' to 'Overwrite events as needed'.
With the former, using FileMaker Server alone, on the
default settings of the Event Viewer and FileMaker Server,
with 40 or so tables being hosted, the log will fill
up in less than 3 hours. You will therefore lose all
of the next 6 days and 21 hours worth of information
- If it will help you can also click on the second tab
in this dialog, called Filter. In here, you can un-check
some of the entries that are showing in the log, for
example, you could uncheck everything except the Warning
and Error types. Its our experience that the cast majority
of the FileMaker Server entries are Information only
ones - CAUTION - if you do alter the Filter tab, be
aware that this will affect ALL applications that are
hosted on that W2K Server machine. If you do, watch
out that this does not upset anyone else, in that their
logging entries will be being filtered down to Error
and Warnings only as well. Unfortunately, there is no
way on either W2K or NT Server Event Viewers to filter
ONLY the FileMaker Server app, and not anything else
- also be aware that if you are filtering the entries
in the log, the other entries are not stopped from being
made, or are being deleted, they are in fact still there.
If for any reason you wanted to see plain Info entries
anytime, simply go to this Dialog box, and the Filter
tab, and turn those type of entries back on again. You
can also remove the FileMaker entries from: HEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Eventlog\
in the registry on the server. This will stop the event
log from displaying messages from that source. Please
note that if you use Registry Editor incorrectly, you
can cause serious problems that may require you to reinstall
your operating system. Use Registry Editor at your own
risk. Before you modify the registry, make sure to back
up the registry, and make sure that you understand how
to restore the registry if a problem occurs.
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FileMaker Server and backups (Multi User Only)
I need to advise our IT systems administrator about
backing up Complete Data. What should I tell them?
When we install a Multi User version of Complete Data
we usually create daily backup schedules for FileMaker
Server so that it is making at least one backup each
day. You should find a folder on your server (note this
folder should never be shared so you must be standing
in front of the server to see the folder) named "Backups"
that contains the following folders: Monday Tuesday
Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday The location
of the Complete Data Backups folder is usually found
at: C:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Server 8\Data\Backups
It should be on the C drive or D drive in most cases.
We usually create 7 backup schedules that run on each
day of the week and make a copy of the live databases
at certain times throughout the day (e.g at 12pm and
7pm). The Monday Backup saves a copy to the Monday folder,
the Tuesday Backup saves a copy to the Tuesday folder,
and so on. This "Complete Data Backups" folder
should be included in any tape backup/offsite backup
systems you have in place. It is important that the
live databases are NEVER touched by your tape backup/offsite
backup program as they are open and running 24 hours
a day and will be corrupted if they are backed up whilst
open. The live databases can be found in the following
directory: C:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Server
8\Data\Databases This directory should never be touched
whilst the FileMaker Server is running. You MUST stop
the FileMaker Server service first before accessing
this directory, particularly if you wish to copy/backup
the contents or scan the files for viruses. You can
check the current FileMaker Server backup schedules
by going to Start>Program Files>FileMaker Server
Admin (on the server) and click FileMaker Server in
the top left then click Schedules and on the right you
should see a list of your current backup schedules.
Double clicking on one will give more information about
the schedule and you should also see the date it last
ran/next runs to confirm that it is working. We also
recommend manually opening the folder where the backups
are being saved to visually confirm that the modified
date is correct and the FileMaker Server backups are
running as expected. Please contact Complete Data if
you have any questions about backup schedules.
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FileMaker Server and Restoring Backups (Multi
User Only)
Our server crashed over the weekend and we need to restore
from the most recent backup as we cannot open Complete
Data. How do we do this?
To restore from a local backup (not a tape/CD etc backup
copy) locate the "FileMaker Backups" or "Complete
Data Backups" folder on your server (you will have
been advised at the time of installation about the location
of this folder). It contains the following folders:
Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday
You will need to determine which folder contains the
most recent backup. For example if your server crashed
on Tuesday morning then the Monday folder will contain
the most recent backup. It is always worth opening the
Monday folder and viewing the modification date/time
for the files to ensure that they did indeed get created
on the correct date and are not from 4 months ago when
the last backup ran. You will then need to replace the
files in the following directory (make sure you STOP
the FileMaker Server service first and wait until it
has completely finished stopping): C:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker
Server 8\Data\Databases When you have finished replacing
the live databases with the most recent backup copies
you can start the FileMaker Server service again and
verify that you can login from a client workstation.
Please contact Complete Data if you have any questions
about restoring from a backup.
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What is involved in upgrading to a new server?
We are about to upgrade our current server to a new
one over the weekend. What do we need to do for Complete
Data?
To upgrade Complete Data to a new server you and your
IT consultants need to do the following: 1 - install
FileMaker Server 8 on the new server using the CD and
Installation Codes supplied. 2 - on the old server stop
the FileMaker Server service (get everyone to close
Complete Data first). When it has stopped completely
you can copy the "CD_Pro_Databases v3.0" folder
from the C:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Server
8\Data\Databases directory to the same location on the
new server. Also copy the contents of the AutoUpdate
folder from the old server to the new one. 3 - on the
new server open the FileMaker Server Admin program and
go through and make the settings the same as the old
server. The most important one is the backup schedules.
When we install a Multi User version of Complete Data
we usually create daily backup scripts for FileMaker
Server so that it is making at least one backup each
day. You should find a folder on your server (note this
folder should never be shared so you must be standing
in front of the server to see the folder) named "FileMaker
Backups" or "Complete Data Backups" that
contains the following folders: Monday Tuesday Wednesday
Thursday Friday Saturday Sunday The location of the
FileMaker Backups/Complete Data Backups folder depends
on the setup and drives available on your server. It
should be on the C drive or D drive in most cases. We
usually create 7 backup schedules that run on each day
of the week and make a copy of the live databases at
certain times throughout the day (e.g. at 11am, 3pm
and 9pm). The Monday Backup saves a copy to the Monday
folder, the Tuesday Backup saves a copy to the Tuesday
folder, and so on. This "FileMaker Backups"
or "Complete Data Backups" folder should be
included in any tape backup/offsite backup systems you
have in place. It is important that the live databases
are NEVER touched by your tape backup/offsite backup
program as they are open and running 24 hours a day
and will be corrupted if they are backed up whilst open.
The live databases can be found in the following directory:
C:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Server 8\Data\Databases
This directory should never be touched whilst the FileMaker
Server is running. You MUST stop the FileMaker Server
service first before accessing this directory, particularly
if you wish to copy/backup the contents. You can check
the current FileMaker Server backup schedules by going
to Start>Program Files>FileMaker Server Console
(on the server) and click FileMaker Server in the top
left then click Schedules and on the right you should
see a list of your current backup schedules. Double
clicking on one will give more information about the
schedule and you should also see the date it last ran/next
runs to confirm that it is working. We also recommend
manually opening the folder where the backups are being
saved to visually confirm that the modified date is
correct and the FileMaker Server backups are running
as expected. Please contact Complete Data if you have
any questions about backup schedules. Remember it's
critical that the C:\Program Files\FileMaker\ directory
is NOT included in any other backups that you do from
the server, e.g. to tape or CD. Once you have done all
this you can start the FileMaker Server service and
test from a workstation that you can logon. We strongly
recommend giving the new server a static IP address.
If everything is working as expected you can also uninstall
FileMaker Server from the old server as you cannot have
two computers running FileMaker Server at the same time
using the same installation code, and delete any files
in the C:\Program Files\FileMaker\FileMaker Server 8\Data\Databases
directory. Please contact us if you have any questions
about this.
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Port Numbers for FileMaker Server 8
What port numbers do I need to open for FileMaker Server
8?
FileMaker Server 8 uses three important ports for transmitting
information. • Port 5003 TCP, UDP - This is the FileMaker
Data port. This port is not configurable. • Port 50006
TCP – This is the port that the Helper Service listens
on. This port is not configurable. • Port 50003 TCP
- When the Server Service starts it first listens on
this port, and then automatically connects to the Helper
Service on port 50006. When using FileMaker Server in
an environment that utilises a firewall, be sure to
configure the firewall to allow the specific ports used
by FileMaker Server as shown above. By default, the
firewall in Windows XP Professional SP 2 is turned on
and must be configured to open the ports shown above.
Restart your computer after configuring the firewall.
When the FileMaker Server Admin application is launched
when the firewall is on, a Windows Security Alert will
be displayed with the name of the program set to Microsoft
Management Console. Click Unblock to successfully launch
the FileMaker Server Admin application.
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