Install Linux Database Server Manager on QuickBooks

If you wish to store your company file on a Linux-based server, then you need to install the Linux database server manager for QuickBooks. Doing so will enable multiple users to work simultaneously on the same company file. However, for now, the solution is only available for QuickBooks Enterprise and not for the pro or premium version of this accounting software.

Apart from this, you’ll require a lot of technical knowledge to configure the correct settings for the server, workstation, and QuickBooks.

Recommendation: You should only follow the steps provided below if you’re familiar with the linux operating system.

System Requirements and Components for Linux Database Manager

The minimum system requirements for installing the database manager on a Linux system or server are below:

• Intel Pentium 3 with 1.2 GHz speed or above
• 1 GB of RAM or more
• At least 2.5 GB of free disk space

There are several components included in the installation process which you need to understand. Here is more information regarding the same:

• Database server files – It enables reading and writing of data in the company file which is stored on the linux server.
• Qbmonitord.conf – this is the configuration file which contains the list of directories and files which will be monitored for changes. The monitored folders usually contain the company file.
• qbmonitord daemon – this tool creates the important program files which track and sync changes to the company file.

Steps to Install Linux Database Server Manager

In order to install the program on a linux server, you must be the root user. If you’re using SUSE, then you must have the fam-server package 2.7.0.29 installed on the server. The package must also be running while you install the database server manager.
To install Linux database server manager, follow the steps provided below:

1. Open the Linux server as the root user.
2. Download the RPM package for Linux Database Server Manager.
3. To verify the integrity of the package, download the public key. This key is provided specifically by Intuit for QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise users.
4. Launch the terminal. Enter rpm –import qbdbm-pubkey.asc and Hit Enter. By doing so, you’ve successfully imported the public key into the keyring which contains all the trusted keys on a Linux server.
5. Launch the terminal. Enter rpm -K and Hit Enter. In the packagename, enter the name of the rpm file downloaded in step 2. By doing so, you’ve verified the signature of the RPM package downloaded from Intuit’s website. If the verification is complete, you’ll receive the message gpg ok.
6. Launch the terminal and Enter rpm -ivh . Hit Enter. Again the package name is the name of the rpm package downloaded in Step 2.
7. Create a new directory. This directory will store the QuickBooks company file. You can create multiple directories for separate company files or store all company files in a single directory. You must configure this directory as a Samba share directory.
8. Save your company files in the directory created in the previous step.

Now you have a server that contains your company file and is ready to be configured for the sync function. Once the configuration is complete, all users will be able to work simultaneously on the company files stored in this Linux server.

Steps to Configure the Linux Database Server Manager

Now that you’ve installed the Linux database server manager, you need to configure it by following the steps provided below:

Step 1 – Set up the directories for the company file

Before accessing the company files on the Linux server, users must create a list of directories containing the QB company file. This list is stored in the qbmonitord.conf file. To do this, follow the steps provided below:

1. Launch the terminal. Go to /opt/qb/util/qbmonitord.conf and edit the file.
2. Enter the entire list of directories containing the QuickBooks company files on separate lines.
3. Restart qbdbfilemon service.

Note – if you’ve stored the company files in a subdirectory, then you need to mention them in the qbmonitord.conf file, as this file does not monitor subdirectories automatically.

Step 2 – Samba Share Directory

A samba share directory can be mapped and accessed by a windows client computer. The directory shows up as a separate drive on windows. To create a samba share directory on Linux, follow the steps provided below:

1. Become the root user on the Linux server.
2. Open the Terminal window and type groupadd -r groupname. This creates a group in Linux with the group containing all the QuickBooks users.
3. Open /etc/group file and enter the name of users. You can do so by adding a separate line with groupname: user1, user2, user3…
4. Now you need to add each user who’ll be able to access the company file in the shared directory. To do so, type in useradd.
5. In order to activate the samba user account and set up a password to protect the account, type in smbpasswd -a user. You need to repeat the step for each user. We recommend that you set up passwords for better protection of your accounting data.
6. In the terminal, type in chmod -R 775/directory. This provides users you created in the previous steps to make changes to the shared directory in which your company file is stored.
7. In the terminal, type in chgrp -R groupname/directory. This changes the share directory’s group ownership.
8. Go to /etc/samba. Open the smb.conf file and enter the following lines:
   1. [share_name]
   2. path = /directory
   3. comment = samba share for company files
   4. valid users = user1 user2 user3
   5. public = no
   6. writable = yes
   7. printable = no
   8. create mask = 0765
9. Change the share_name to a name easily recognized by users.  This name will be on the Windows client computer. Also, change the directory to the full path of the directory configured as a samba share.
10. In the terminal, type in service smb restart. This will restart the Samba daemon tool.

Now, you’ve successfully installed and configured the Linux database server manager.

Step 3 – Start Logging with qbmonitord.log file

To make sure that you can find all the errors encountered during the sync process, you can enable log in the qbmonitord.log file. To do so, follow the steps provided below:

1. Once you’ve installed and configured the database server manager, Restart syslog daemon.
2. Go to the terminal.
3. Type in /etc/init.d/syslog restart.
4. Hit Enter.

This will restart the syslog daemon tool. Now all the qbmonitord messages will be logged into the qbmonitord.log file.