A sample network installation

This page gives a step-by-step description of the installation of a 3-user network version of Cardbox. It takes the simplest approach, but we point out to you when a different configuration might make more sense if your requirements were different.

The system configuration

All computers on this network run Windows.

The network file server is called AGNES. It does not have an Internet connection.

There are three workstations, called FELICITY, PERPETUA and ANASTASIA.

You have been given a CDROM with Cardbox on it, and a piece of paper with the following Cardbox licences:

Cardbox 3.0
Serial number: 51331017
Edition: Professional
Number of users: 3
Signature: 5460-618X-244Y-YY19

Cardbox Server
Serial number: 51331017
Signature: 888X-0XY7-133Y-1630

1. The Cardbox Server

Where to install it

The computer that is to run the Cardbox Server has to be permanently connected to all the others - or at least, connected whenever they want to use Cardbox. For this reason the network file server is usually the best choice, and so we will use AGNES.

How to install it

Insert the CDROM and follow the instructions (if the setup program doesn't start automatically, double-click on setup.exe).

Accept the suggested location for the program, C:\Program Files\Cardbox Server. There is no need for this folder to be shared on the network, and in fact it is better if it is not shared (to prevent accidental modification by users).

When you are asked for licence details, fill them in as follows:

Once the installation is complete, the Server Settings control will open.

Where to store shared databases

Designate a folder that will hold the databases that are to be shared among Cardbox users. Choose the folder name according to your own system conventions. If at all possible, do not make the folder accessible to users across the network: this is so that an adventurous user won't be tempted to browse to a database file and open it directly, denying access to other users. We're going to assume a location of C:\Data\Cardbox Example.

Server Settings control: Server page

Set "Access to Databases" to "Read/Write".

Turn on "Automatic Directory".

Press the Browse button and browse to C:\Data\Cardbox Example.

If you want users to be able to create databases in this directory, turn on "Allow Users to Create Databases".

Server Settings control: Licences page

You will see an empty User Licences list. Click on the Add button.

Enter the 3-user Cardbox Professional Edition licence as follows:

Turn on "Lend Cardbox Professional licences".

Server Settings control: Start page

Select "Run the server as a system service".

Select "Start the server automatically when Windows starts".

Press the Start button to start the Cardbox Server.

Conclusion

Close the Server Settings control.

Remove the CDROM.

You don't need to be logged on any more, so if you don't want to stay logged on for other reasons, log out as Administrator.

2. The workstations

Log in to FELICITY, preferably as an administrator. [This is not essential, but if you do it then Cardbox will be accessible to all users on FELICITY].

Insert the CDROM and follow the instructions (if the setup program doesn't start automatically, double-click on setup.exe).

Accept the suggested location for the program, C:\Program Files\Cardbox 3.0.

Licence Location page

Select "I have no licence".

Licence Loan page

Setting things like this means that the workstations will automatically borrow Cardbox licences from the Cardbox Server whenever they need them, keeping administration simple.

Conclusion

Once the installation is complete, you can remove the CDROM and log out.

Repeat the same installation procedure on PERPETUA and ANASTASIA.

How we could have done things differently

More than three potential users

Suppose that you have two more workstations, CLETUS and CLEMENT, but budgetary constraints mean that you don't want to buy a 5-user licence and you estimate that no more than 3 people will ever want to be in Cardbox at the same time.

In that case, simply install Cardbox in the same way as you have already done for FELICITY and the others. Now the first three people to open Cardbox will do so successfully but the fourth will be told to try again later because all the licences have been used up. When one of the original three closes Cardbox, one licence will become free and anyone will be able to open Cardbox and use that licence.

A large installation

In a very large installation it can get boring going from one computer to another with a CDROM.

The CDROM problem itself can be avoided by copying the entire contents of the CDROM to a shared folder on AGNES.
Repeated installation can be avoided altogether by installing on one workstation and then taking the contents of C:\Program Files\Cardbox 3.0 and copying them to C:\Program Files\Cardbox 3.0 on each of the other workstations.
You may also want to set up a specific configuration - for example, add your own servers to the list that appears in File > Open > Server, or set other options in Tools > Options. In that case, do all this on the first workstation and then use Tools > Management > Save Cardbox Registry Settings to export a .REG file that you can install on each of the other workstations.

Put the Cardbox program files in a shared folder

This would reduce the number of times we'd have to install Cardbox. Suppose that you used FELICITY to install Cardbox to a shared folder called \\AGNES\Resources\Cardbox Program.

Then, on PERPETUA, you would navigate to \\AGNES\Resources\Cardbox Program and double-click on cardbox3.exe. Cardbox would then set up any necessary shortcuts on PERPETUA. You would then do the same thing on ANASTASIA.

Despite this simplicity (and the relative simplicity of installing program files upgrades should they ever be necessary) we don't recommend this approach. It increases network traffic, and if an upgrade ever did need to be installed, keeping it on the server could mean (for reasons to do with the perversity of Windows) that the server would have to be rebooted for the upgrade to take effect.

Put the Cardbox licence in a shared folder

This would mean that the Cardbox Server would not have to be running (or even installed) in order for people to be able to use Cardbox. This is not usually an important advantage, and the disadvantage is the complexity of the procedure. Here are the differences from what we described above:

Don't install the 3-user Cardbox licence into the Cardbox Server.
Create a shared folder that all potential Cardbox users have access to. We'll call it \\AGNES\Resources\Cardbox Licences, but if you were also putting the Cardbox program files in a shared folder then you could use the same folder for the licences.
In the Licence Location page of the Cardbox setup program, select "In a Shared Folder (Directory)", then press the Browse button and browse to \\AGNES\Resources\Cardbox Licences.
In the Licence Management page of the Cardbox setup program, press the Add button and enter the 3-user Cardbox Professional Edition licence.

Don't borrow licences

The act of borrowing a licence turns Cardbox into a fully-fledged Professional Edition. Sometimes this isn't what you want. Suppose, for instance, that PERPETUA belongs to someone who shouldn't be allowed to create new databases on PERPETUA - something that the Professional Edition licence would allow.

In that case, don't turn on licence borrowing when you set up PERPETUA. The user of that computer will still be able to use databases on the Cardbox Server (the Cardbox Server will internally "borrow" a licence whenever the user connects) but will not have a Professional Edition licence for local database creation, macro recording, etc.

For more details, see First and Second Class Citizens.

If the file server has an Internet connection

If AGNES has a direct Internet connection and you don't want remote users (eg. staff working at home on their laptops) to have access through this connection, open the Connections page of the Server Settings control, and instead of All Connections, enable just the connection that links AGNES to FELICITY, PERPETUA and ANASTASIA.