Summary
The purpose of this document is to describe the steps necessary to configure the BlueView server to allow for remote client access to the database, and to install BlueView Client software on the client machines.
It is useful to use this deployment model when the site wants to host BlueView and the SQL Server database at a central server location managed by the IT department, but also need to allow other departments to enter data and manage the day-to-day changes of the access control installation. All of the functionality of BlueView is accessible from the server except the ability to start and stop Bluelink Network Services. This documentation assumes that BlueView has been installed and configured on a server machine, along with SQL Server and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
The same installation package is used to install both the BlueView server software and the BlueView client software, and the version of BlueView on each client machine must match the version of BlueView installed on the server. BlueView client software is supported only on BlueView Professional and Enterprise editions. The Professional edition is limited to 5 client installations, while the Enterprise edition supports unlimited client installations. To check your licenses, open BlueView on the server and go to Help→About.
Configure SQL Server for Remote Access
By default, Microsoft SQL Server is not configured to allow remote client access. In order to configure Microsoft SQL Server for remote access, perform the following steps on the server machine.
1. Open the SQL Server Configuration Manager utility by going to Start → All Programs → Microsoft SQL Server 20xx → Configurations Tools → SQL Server Configuration Manager. The following screen appears:
2. Expand “SQL Server Network Configuration.” Click on “Protocols for SQLEXPRESS.” SQLEXPRESS is the SQL Server instance name, and may vary based on how SQL Server was installed.
3. Select TCP/IP Protocol and then right-click to open the Properties of this protocol. Set the Enabled field to 'Yes' on the first tab of the TCP/IP protocol properties page.
4. Next, click on the IP Addresses tab. Look for the IP address in the list that will be used for the BlueView client machines to communicate with the server. Typically, this is the first IPv4 address in the list. If needed, change the settings for this IP Address to be both Active: Yes and Enabled: Yes.
Note: On the IP Addresses tab there may be several sections representing each network connection. The configuration to enable should only be made to the active network cards (most likely listed in the first section) and not the local loopback connection. The loopback connection is indicated by the standard address of 127.0.0.1 and this connection is not relevant for remote access to the SQL Server instance.
6. After making the changes, click "OK". A pop up window may appear, hit OK again to acknowledge.
7. Back on the SQL Server Configuration Manager, click on SQL Server Services, then locate the SQL Browser service in the right hand window. Right click on the Browser service to open the Properties window.
8. Once the Properties page has been opened , click on the Service tab and the following screen appears. Adjust the Start mode by setting it to Automatic. Click Apply.
9. Click on the Log On tab, and click the Start button to start the SQL Browser Service. (If the Start button is grayed out, go back to the Service tab and make sure to hit Apply after changing the Start Mode to Automatic.)
10. Once the SQL Browser Service has started, click OK to return to the SQL Server Configuration Manager. At this point, you can close the SQL Server Configuration Manager.
11. Now, open SQL Server Management Studio (Start → All Programs → Microsoft SQL Server 20xx → SQL Server Management Studio) and connect to database engine. Right-click on the Instance Name, and click Properties.
On the Connections tab, make sure that the box next to "Allow remote connections to this server" is checked.
12. If it was not configured to do so during the SQL Server installation process, set the SQL Server instance to use Mixed Mode Authentication. While in the Server Properties screen from the previous step, select Security from the panel on the left. Change the Server Authentication mode from Windows Authentication Mode to SQL Server and Windows Authentication Mode as shown in the following figure. Click OK to save your changes and exit the Properties screen.
13. Now, create a login to allow remote access. For this step, again use Server Management Studio Express on the server machine. Be sure to record the user name and password that you create or use here, as they will be needed later when configuring the client's Database Configuration for BlueView.
a) Use the sa (system administrator) account. Right click on the sa account to bring up the properties page and the following screen appears. Set a password for the sa account by typing it into the Password and Confirm Password fields if you have not already and make a note of what the password is. If you did this already while configuring BlueView and creating the database on the server, then you can skip this step.
b) Create a new SQL Server login for BlueView clients. To create a new login, expand the Security folder in the left pane in SQL Server Management Studio (the one under the SQL Instance name, not the one in the Databases folder). Right-click on the Logins folder and select New Login.
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From here, you have two ways to go about creating a login. You can specify a windows user to have access, or you can create another SQL login for the client. On the General tab, select Windows Authentication, and enter the domain and user name for the domain account that will be used for Windows logins(Left). For a new SQL Login, select SQL Server authentication, create a username, and then create and confirm a password for the login. Change the Default Database to BlueWave.
On the User Mapping tab, put a check next to BlueWave on the top and then check db_owner under Database role membership.
14. Firewall Exemptions: These programs should be allowed through the Firewall:
◦ sqlservr.exe
◦ You may need to browse for this file in C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQLxx.<instance_name>\MSSQL\Binn
These ports should be allowed through the Firewall by Inbound Rule:
◦ TCP Port 1433 (default SQL Server port)
◦ UDP Port 1434 (SQL Browser port)
◦ TCP Ports 6500, 6501 (default ports used by BNS)
15. Restart SQL Server so that all changes take effect. In SQL Server Management Studio, right-click the instance name and choose Restart. Note that this will affect all databases on that instance. Alternatively, a computer reboot will accomplish the same thing.
Install the Client Software
To install the Client Software, use the same installation package that was used to install BlueView on the server for the client machine. It is important that the version of BlueView on the client matches that on the server.
Double-click on setup.exe or BlueView.exe and step through the installation wizard, as described in the BlueView Software Installation and Configuration guide. Note that SQL Server does NOT need to be installed on the client machine.
Once BlueView has been installed on the client machine, go to Start → All Programs → BlueView. The software will first look for a local instance of SQL Server and will fail. Then the Database Configuration screen will appear.
Click on Test Connection to test the connection to the database. Once the test connection succeeds, click Apply to save the changes and close the window. When BlueView prompts for a login name and password, use the BlueView login, not the SQL Server login you may have created in Step 13 – once the client connection to the database has been set up, you will not need to enter the SQL Server login information again unless something changes in your server or database setup. The client installation of BlueView is now functional. All BlueView functionality is accessible from the client installation, except for the ability to start and stop Bluelink Network Services.
Troubleshooting Tips
• If Test Connection fails, double-check that all SQL Server configuration steps were completed. Try to log in to SQL Server Management Studio Express on the server using the login information from Step 13, to make sure that the login is set up correctly.
• If Test Connection succeeds, but the software is unable to connect to the server and changes to the Database Configuration screen keep reverting to defaults, double-check that the file Program Files\BlueView\DAL.config (on the client machine) is not read-only and that the user running BlueView has the appropriate rights to modify the file.
• If the BlueView client opens correctly, but the Start/Stop button for Bluelink Network Services (this will be grayed out on the client) is out of sync with the status of Bluelink Network Services on the server, stop and restart Bluelink Network Services on the server.