Inside the FileMaker Server Installation Folders there is a very interesting file named Assisted Install and here we're looking at the Windows Installer and the Windows Installer comes in both the 64-bit and 32-bit edition. So we can pick either one and find the Assisted Install File. And you'll find the same file in the Mac OS X installation folders. With this file you can minimize the interaction with the Installer by presetting your information and choices and it comes in very handy if you need to install multiple servers and you have a FileMaker Volume License Agreement. A VLA let's you install multiple machines with the same License Key. The Assisted Install is very useful for testing servers, where you might install and uninstall software frequently. Using the Assisted Install File saves you from having to find and type all that information over and over again, especially that pesky long 35 character License Key. It is extremely handy as part of your Disaster Recovery Strategies even if you have only one FileMaker Server. If you have the FileMaker Server Installer ready with the Assisted Install File then you do not need to worry about hunting for the proper license information when you have to reinstall in a hurry. And you can do the same with FileMaker Pro by the way. So here's how it works. Well first of all it doesn't work if you are installing from a CD because you need to make changes to this file and save it. So if you are installing from a CD, copy all the Installer Files to the server's hard disk or to a network share. When you have the files in the right location you basically just add your information to this file. And the first three lines are the information that was provided to you by FileMaker. Your name, organization and License Key and then come some of the settings that we can tweak. For Installation Type the Default is zero and it means install of the FileMaker Server components on one machine. Change this value to a 1 to install components on different machines in a multi-machine deployment. If you change this to 1 you will also want to change the second option here. That is the Master Work Designation; zero is the Default and should be left as it is if you are installing every FileMaker Server component on one machine. Now if you change the Installation Type to 1 and basically that signals a multi-machine deployment and also leave this one to zero for the installation on the master machine. The master machine is the one that has the Database Server on it and then change this Setting to 1 for the Assisted Install File on the worker machines. And those are the machines with the Web Publishing Engine and the Web Server Module. The next setting is the Launch Deployment Assistant; the Default Setting is to launch the Wizard immediately after installing FileMaker Server. If you do not want that then change this value to a zero. You will then later have to start the Deployment Wizard manually and that's the Wizard that steps you through the Basic Configuration Settings. Our last setting is for Skipping Dialogs and the Default is 1 meaning we will skip dialogs. You can change this value to a zero if you want to show the personalized dialog when the Installer runs. That's the dialog where you can type a name, organization and License Key. Note that for those who are used to the old version of the Assisted Install that there is no longer a Language Preference. The Installer will pick up whatever the language was or is for the operating system. Also gone from this file is a Startup Option. The Startup behavior of FileMaker Server has changed a bit over the years and the fact that the Main FileMaker Server service or daemon now automatically starts does not mean it also opens the files when it does. That is now a separate preference that you can set in the Admin Console. Additionally but only on Windows you can make the installation process a truly silent install meaning there will be no interaction whatsoever. To do this you need to modify the Setup.INI file in the FileMaker Server Installation Folder and that's this file. In the Startup Section where it says Command Line Add a Q for a Quiet Installation or you can change it to a Q B for a semi-silent installation. In that case it will still show a progress bar and a Cancel Button. But we won't try that here, just know that those options are available to you.
| Course: | FileMaker Server 12 |
| Author: | Wim Decorte |
| SKU: | 34324 |
| ISBN: | 978-1-61866-047-3 |
| Release Date: | 2012-06-22 |
| Duration: | 6.5 hrs / 84 lessons |
| Work Files: |
Yes |
| Captions: | No |
| Compatibility: |
Vista/XP/2000, OS X, Linux QuickTime 7, Flash 8 |