Using the Application Server

Note: This article applies to Sage 100 Advanced and Premium.

Application Server Overview

Sage 100 Advanced and Premium are powered by the Application Server, which allows multiple users to remotely access the server using TCP/IP. Users can be connected on an internal LAN or externally through an intranet or WAN. The Application Server also allows for encryption using SSL to protect your data if operating in an environment that is not secure, such as over the Internet.

Configuring the Application Server

Before you can start Sage 100 Advanced or Premium, you must first configure the Application Server. The Application Server can be configured to run as a service; it must be configured using the following steps to access the Sage 100 server.

To configure the Application Server

  1. On the server where Sage 100 is installed, from the Windows Start menu, run the Application Server Configuration program. This program should be a shortcut in the Sage program group.

  2. In the Application Server Configuration window, click the Server tab.

    The server selected in the Server field is the logical name to identify the Application Server. This does not refer to the physical machine name of the server.

    Verify the KeepAlives check box is cleared.

  3. For security purposes, the first setting you should change is the socket number on which the Application Server listens for requests. By default, this is set to 10000, but can be any valid socket (port) between 9000 and 10000. Make sure the socket you choose is not being used by another service or application on this server.

  4. Click Start to start the Application Server. In the upper-right corner, the Status field changes from Stopped to Running.

  5. Click Exit to exit the Application Server Configuration program. Users can now access Sage 100 after performing workstation setup.

The Application Server continues to run and will service incoming requests from Sage 100 clients, even though you have exited the Application Server Configuration program.

In this current configuration, a user must remain logged onto the server where the Application Server is running. The user logged on to this server must have access to all resources required by Sage 100 (all rights to all program and data folders in Sage 100).

After the Application Server has been configured once, you do not need to re-run the Application Server Configuration program to start the Application Server.

You can start the Application Server by selecting the Application Server Startup menu item from the Windows Start menu. This starts the Application Server, which will continue to run until the user is logged off or the server is shut down.

To view users currently running Sage 100 and the tasks that users are running, click the Sessions tab.

Turning Off the Application Server

There may be instances when you want to turn off the Application Server, such as before installing an operating system update.

To turn off the Application Server

  1. Run the Application Server Configuration program.

  2. Click the Servers tab and then click Stop. The Status field changes from Running to Stopped.

You can also turn off the Application Server by closing the Application Server task that appears on the Task Bar of the server. To do this, right-click the task and click Close from the pop-up menu. The Application Server will shut down after a few seconds.

Configuring as a Service

Depending on your needs, you may want to start the Application Server as a service of the operating system. Running as a service has a number of advantages:

  • The Application Server can be configured to start automatically so that if the server is rebooted, you do not have to re-start the Application Server.

  • It is more secure because someone does not need to be logged onto the server in order for the Application Server to run.

To configure the Application Server as a service

  1. Configure the Application Server. For instructions, see Configuring the Application Server.

  2. Exit the Application Server Configuration program after the Application Server has been configured.

  3. If you already have a Windows domain user account set up to run the Application Server, skip this step; otherwise, create a new domain user on your server that has appropriate access rights to run all the functions and features of Sage 100. This should include the Modify permission to the application folder, any folders where Sage 100 data is located, the Windows folder, and access to the Registry. This account must also be granted the Log On as a Service right.

    If you are not running in a domain environment, create and use a local computer account for your workgroup; however, you must ensure this account can execute a UNC path to the MAS90 folder. Test this by entering the UNC path in Windows Explorer. If you are prompted for a user name and password, the account is not set up properly.

  4. After a user is created, on the Windows Start menu, select All Programs > Sage > Application Server Service Setup. A dialog box appears.

  5. Select the path of the Sage 100 installation, if it is different than the default Sage 100 installation path. The Application Server Service installation wizard installs the service components necessary to run the Application Server as a service.

  6. Use the Services applet to configure the service.

    Note: Your screens may vary slightly depending on the version of Windows you are using.

    1. Right-click the Computer shortcut on the Window's Desktop, and then select Manage. The Server Manager window opens.

    2. In the left pane of the Server Manager window, select Configuration. The Services item appears in the right pane of the window.

    3. Double-click Services. All of the services available on the server appear in the right pane of the window.

    4. Double-click either Sage 100 Advanced Service or Sage 100 Premium Service, depending on which product you are using. The properties window for the service opens.

    5. There are two settings you may want to change:

      • The startup type, by default, is set to Manual. To have the service start automatically whenever the system is restarted, change the startup method to Automatic.

        If the service is set to Manual, you will need to launch this window to start up the service each time the server is reset. You may want to set the service to Manual if you plan on performing maintenance on the server and do not want the Application Server service to start up after restarting.

      • Change the logon user to the domain user that was created previously to run the Sage 100 Application Server. Provide the user logon and password information where specified.

        Warning! Do not run the Sage 100 Application Server service under the Local System account. The Local System account does not have access to certain network resources that Sage 100 requires.

  7. Click Apply to save any changes.

  8. On the General tab, click Start to begin the service. The Service Status message changes to Started, and users can now access Sage 100.

Advanced Features

The Application Server has a number of additional features that can be useful for system administrators. You can enable some of these features for added security or logging purposes; however, these are not required to run Sage 100. To enable these features, you must log on to the server and start the Application Server Configuration program.

Session Tracking

In the Application Server Configuration window, on the Sessions tab, you can view a list of all the users who are currently in the system and which task they are running. This window also provides you with more detailed information about the machine name, IP address, and connection time for each process. This is useful when trying to find users on the system or people in a particular application. Master Console in Sage 100 can also be used for this purpose.

Individual sessions can be terminated if they appear to be locked up or become unresponsive. Terminating a process in this manner can cause data corruption issues and should be done only as a last resort. To terminate a session, select the session from the list and then click Terminate.

SSL Encryption

The Application Server can be configured to use SSL to encrypt data being sent to and from the Application Server. This can be extremely useful when using the Internet or any other unsecure medium to connect workstations to the server; however, SSL does add extra overhead in terms of performance. This feature should be enabled only if it is necessary. Using SSL in a secured, intranet environment or over an already protected tunneling protocol (like VPN) is not recommended due to the potential performance impact.

The SSL component of the Application Server uses the OpenSSL protocol and drivers. To use SSL, you must first configure the Sage 100 Application Server to use SSL and then generate an SSL certificate. For more information, Generating an SSL Certificate.

To configure the Sage 100 Application Server to use SSL

  1. Make sure all users are out of Sage 100. After SSL is enabled, a different connection string is required for each of the workstations connecting to the server. Workstations that do not have this additional information will not be allowed to connect to Sage 100.

  2. Run the Application Server Configuration program.

  3. In the Application Server Configuration window, click the Server tab and select the Encrypt check box. The Certificate field becomes enabled so that you can enter the path to the SSL certificate.

  4. Enter the full path to the certificate relative to the server where Sage 100 is installed. After the certificate is entered and validated, the server automatically updates its configuration.

  5. On each workstation that will be connecting to Sage 100, change the Sage 100 shortcut as follows: in the Target command line, add -SSL to the end of the parameter list.

If you receive an error trying to connect to the server after configuring SSL, perform the following:

  • Verify that the workstation startup shortcut was modified.

  • Verify which start-up icon the user used when trying to connect to the server, and verify that the -SSL argument is in the target command line. Users may have multiple shortcuts connecting to the server that need to be modified.

Generating an SSL Certificate

To use the SSL capabilities of the Application Server, create a .pem file that contains both the certificate and your private key in X509 format.

For information on generating an SSL certificate, see article ID 45855 in the Sage Knowledgebase.

If you are unfamiliar with generating a certificate for secure transactions, consult a network consultant or business partner.