A.M.S. has been designed for ease of setup using differing methods as required by the network administrator
A.M.S. is Server / Client software meaning that A.M.S. Server and its database is installed on the network server with A.M.S. Client software being installed onto the computers to be monitored. All the A.M.S. Clients communicate over the network to A.M.S. Server's database.
Full installation instructions are provided in the Operating Manual. We have documented the Setup procedure here simply to show how esy A.M.S. is to install and configure. Full support is also offered for those that require it.
The file amsXXXXfull.exe (where XXXX represents the current version) is installed onto the Server or on a single secure computer on the network. During normal operation, there is no loss of processing power as the server is merely recording data to a data file.
As A.M.S. is designed for Electronic Delivery, the demonstration version is 'unlocked' into the 'full' version.
N.B.: If you are still in Demonstration (single user) mode in A.M.S., none of the following is required to be performed.
1. After installation of A.M.S., run A.M.S. Server through the Start menu - Programs / Talcorp Australia / AMS Server.
2. Click on A.M.S. Trial.
3. Click on the Client Configuration button.
4. With A.M.S. activated, the client window will look similar to this.
5. The network server (or computer that you wish to run A.M.S. Server on) needs to be configured as follows:-
a) create a ‘share’ to the A.M.S. Server data directory (which is found under the directory you chose to install A.M.S. Server to during installation) or ensure that the data directory is accessible through an existing ‘share’.
b) permissions on the ‘data’ directory need to be set so that the clients have ‘read/write’ access. If the permissions are incorrect, A.M.S. will log off the client computer.
6. Enter the directory information for Server Data into the Client Configuration window. This information is contained in the A.M.S. Client configuration file - amsparam.dat. This information allows A.M.S. Client on each monitored computer to ‘find’ the A.M.S. data directory.
- ‘server data directory’ is the path from the client to the server data directory
e.g. \\servername\sharename\directory
e.g. \\server1\data or \\server1\ams\data or \\server1\c\ams\data
depending on how the clients access the data directory.
7. Example 1 - In this installation, the directory - ‘data’ is shared and called - ‘amsdata’. The name of the computer that A.M.S. Server is installed to is ‘Alpha’.
The entry in ‘Server Data Directory’ would be:- \\alpha\amsdata
8. Example 2 - In this installation, A.M.S. is installed to an existing share. The drive e: is shared and called ‘e’. The name of the computer that A.M.S. Server is installed to is ‘Zeta’.
The entry in ‘Server Data Directory’ would be:- \\zeta\e\amsserver\data
9. Enter the directory information for Client Home.
- ‘client home directory’ is the path from the server to the directory on the client pc where the a.m.s. client software will be installed (but without the client name prefix). It allows A.M.S. Server to update the Client Config File and the Client software itself (when required).
10. The directory where A.M.S. Client is installed should be shared or accessible through an existing share. Hidden ‘shares’ are also supported. A.M.S. Client must be installed to the same directory location on all computers.
The format is \\name_of_pc\name_of_share\directory
e.g. if full path is ‘\client1\c\amsclient’ , then the entry in ‘client home’ is ‘c\amsclient’.
11. Example - On this network, drive c: is a hidden share on all computers and named ‘c’. A.M.S. Client is installed to c:\amsclient on all computers.
The entry in Client Home Directory would be:- c$\amsclient
Installing A.M.S. Client software should only be performed once you have ‘activated’ and ‘unlocked’ A.M.S.
NB: If you install the client software and have it ‘autostarting’ on the client computers without the server setup being completed, it will shut down the client computer as it can’t find the data files of the server.
12. The A.M.S. Client software is in the folder - ‘clientinstaller’ under the folder ‘amsserver’ or the directory you chose when installing A.M.S. Server.
The Client software needs to be installed for the first time on each of the monitored computers. A base image may be created on a client computer using Norton’s Ghost installer or similar program and then distributed to other client computers. After the intial installation, future updates to the client software can be done from within A.M.S. Server. A network administrator could set up A.M.S. and roll out 200 clients using Nortons Ghost (or similar) in a couple of hours
13. To commence installation of A.M.S. Client, do one of these two following steps:-
a) share the ..\clientinstaller directory so that the client computers can access it (temporarily !). Go to the client computer and double click on the file - amsXXXXclientauto.exe in the above location. The installation will commence and you can follow the prompts. Remember to install to the same location as you set in the Client Home Directory in Client Configuration. We have provided a couple of options for autostarting A.M.S. Client.
b) copy the contents of ..\clientinstaller directory to removable media (CD, disk, memory stick etc.) Make a directory on the Client computer in the same location as you set in the Client Home Directory in Client Configuration. Copy the files into that directory from the removable media. The method that you wish A.M.S. Client to autostart will have be configured manually.
NB: The file amsparam.dat must be included with the file amsXXXXclientauto.exe (the xxxx represents the version number). This tells the client where to find the server.