Setting Up Ollie On Your Server
Technical Requirements For Your Server
In the most basic case, Ollie is installed on the same server you are already using to run our Simple Accounting for Forms Experts software (SAFE). If so, your server probably has most of, or all the components necessary for properly running Ollie.
A quick review of system requirements:
Your server needs to be running Windows XP Professional, Windows 2000 Server or Windows
2003.
Internet Information Services (IIS). This is an included component of your server software, but it may not be automatically installed. IIS should be configured to allow the running of ASP.Net scripting. This is the programming language Ollie uses to create pages.
Your server should be connected to the internet using a static IP address. A static IP address means that your server will broadcast on the internet with the same address everytime. You may well have a constant connection to the internet, however, this does not mean that you have a static IP address. Contact your ISP to confirm this or to obtain one.
Your IP address should be linked to a domain name which gives you a user-friendly URL eg. www.myfavoriteprintingcompany.com
Your server will require the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 or 2005 database. Any version will do, however, we do not recommend the Express or MSDE versions. Although they are free (a benefit not to be looked down upon!) they both have inherent limitations in terms of database size and web connections. If you have been using either of these to run SAFE, it’s time to upgrade.
If you wish to allow your users to upload their own image files, then you must provide an FTP Service on the web server (this is configured through IIS along with the web site). You should make sure that they only have permissions to access their company’s folders as discussed below.
Suggestions For Scaling Up
As your usage increases, your Ollie server may require more power. How will you know that this
is the case? That’s easy. Your users will tell you that their web experience is getting slower and s l o w e r. (Which brings up a good point: it is wise for you to monitor your users’ experience by periodically using Ollie yourself! This is often the best way to head off performance problems.)
If you need more performance, the rule of thumb is ‘divide and conquer’. This means splitting various functions of Ollie onto separate servers. We have found this to be far more effective than upgrading a single server with faster components or more memory.
First Step: Move Ollie onto it’s own machine. IIS also uses a lot of machine resources. Moving Ollie onto another machine (but still connected to the same database as SAFE) not only improves Ollie performance, but also has the added benefit of providing additionally security. By moving Ollie onto a separate machine, you create another layer of security by isolating Ollie Users from potentially ‘hacking’ into your SAFE server.
Second Step: Move your database onto a separate machine. SQL Server requires a lot of computing power in order to do it’s work. Moving the database onto a separate machine can easily double the number of Ollie Users you can serve..
Installing Ollie
Generally speaking, we (Suntower Systems) will install Ollie on your server for you. This is basically a matter of creating a few directories, installing the scripts to those folders, and configuring the web site.
Before we install, please make certain that your server meets the above technical requirements and that you have communicated your Static IP address and your Domain Name.
THE FOLDERS
Ollie uses several folders. These are located under the Simple Accounting folder. If you are
installing Ollie on a machine which does not have a SAFE installation, we will create a parent
Simple Accounting folder.
/Scripts Where the Ollie program lives. Suntower Systems /Reports Reports installed for your installation Suntower Systems /Styles This folder contains the styles which determine the look and feel of Ollie. There are also several subfolders: Suntower Systems Distributor Admin /Images This contains the main images used in Ollie for displaying the various icons common to all pages. Suntower Systems /EN /BE /ME /SP /FR There will also be one folder here for each Language Translation you will use. (The default is ‘EN’ for American English.) This is a series of images used for screen objects such as buttons which are language specific, eg. ‘Add’, ‘Update’, etc. Suntower SystemsDistributor Admin
OK, now it gets a bit trickier. There will now be a folder for that particular Customer which is named for their Customer ID in SAFE. If you allow your System Administrator to manage files, this folder should be set up as their FTP folder. This is the folder structure they should see underneath the man FTP folder:
/Images /HiRes This includes the static images that your customers (SA) will use to install various files including: · <span >PDF Templates · <span >Product Thumbnails in JPG or GIF format. · <span >Product Full Previews in JPG or JPG format. · <span >Customer Logos · <span >High resolution PDF Templates, suitable for manufacturing (optional) Distributor Admin System Admin /Public This folder holds files that your Users are allowed to write to. Distributor Admin System Admin End Users /FDFs Stores the form-fill information from Imprint Orders /Uploads Files uploaded from End Users /Custom Custom styles and scripts Suntower SystemsE-Mail Configuration
One of the key features of Ollie is it’s ability to automatically send a variety of e-mails to you and your end users as the orders are entered, edited, deleted, or approved.
In order to do this, your web server must be able to act as an e-mail server, or your web server must be able to use another computer, acting as the e-mail server, to send out the e-mails. This can get complicated, but it may help if you remember that Ollie does not send e-mails; rather, it counts on being able to send a message to another system which does the actual work of sending the e-mail where it needs to go. That other system (called the Mail Server) may or may not be on the same machine as your web server.
GLOBAL AND ADMIN EMAILS
The Global E-Mail Address is used as the ‘from’ for messages generated by Ollie. All auto-
generated e-mails need a valid e-mail address to send -from- otherwise the e-mailer will generate an SMTP 550 error. ollie@globaforms.com performs this function.
The Admin E-Mail address is, by default, the ‘Reply To’ address for E-Mails—if people need help for example. More importantly, is that, Ollie will generate a CC to this address of every e- mail sent by users or Approvers in the Order Entry process.
This lets you track who did what and serves as a backup if an order were to be lost between the time the order is entered and then transferred into SAFE.
You will need the following information for having Ollie send out e-mails:
SMTP Server: 10.10.10.111
POP3 Server: 10.10.10.111
Email Domain: globalforms.com
Plus, you need to provide a POP3 User Account and Password for Ollie to use for sending e- mails.
YOUR VERY OWN E-MAIL SERVER?
Like the e-mail program on your desktop, Ollie does not actually send e-mails. Instead, it relies
on a piece of software known as an e-mail server to actually send the e-mails it generates. Your company may already have an e-mail server, or it may use the e-mail server provided by your ISP. If you are using the e-mail server provided by your ISP this may be the first time you were aware that there even is such a thing as an ‘e-mail server’. But there is, and here is why it is important:
When a program like Ollie sends an automated e-mail from a particular address such as ollie@mycompany.com, the ISP -must- allow something called a relay in order for the e-mail to be sent. This is because the From address on the e-mail Ollie generates will not match the From address of the person actually using Ollie. Actually, to be more precise, the domain, meaning the actual computer network Ollie is installed at (your company) is not the same as the network of the Ollie User.
In other words, when rhonda@myformscustomer.com places an order in Ollie, Ollie will attempt to generate an e-mail to acknowledge her order. The problem is that Ollie is residing on your system and is using a From address of ollie@formsdistributor.com. When your ISP’s e-mail server sees that someone at ‘myformsCustomer.com’ is attempting to send an e-mail with a From address of ‘formsdistributor.com’ it will likely attempt to block this.
The above scenario is called a relay–using one domain to send a message from another domain. And relays are generally blocked by most ISPs because this is a favorite technique of hackers
and spammers. Why? Because a relay allows one domain to send e-mails for another and though in our case it is perfectly innocent, if you were a spammer, you would use this same technique to send out thousands of weight loss and home finance messages using the ISPs own servers!
If you configure Ollie to use your ISPs e-mail server, instead of purchasing your own, you may run into the following error when you attempt to e-mail from Ollie: SMTP Error 550.
If this happens, you will need to contact your ISP and see if they can enable relay and/or turn off their anti-spam filters for e-mails sent by Ollie. If they are unable or unwilling to do so, you wil need to install an e-mail server on the Ollie webserver in order to automatically generate e-mails from Ollie.
SUPPORTED E-MAIL SERVERS
Ollie supports most popular e-mail servers, including:
Ipswitch IMail Microsoft Exchange Novell
If you have another e-mail server in mind it will likely work since Ollie uses standard protocols for sending and receiving mails.
OPTIONS FOR FORWARDING AND NOTIFICATION
The following options are discussed further on in the On Line Options section of the Customer
Master discussion.
| OPTION | DISCUSSION |
| When An Order Is Approved?Send E-Mail To Purchasing Agent InAll Cases?Send E-Mail To Approver In AllCases?When An Order Is CancelledSend E-Mail On Proxy Cancel? Send E-Mail On Order Cancel? | The name of the e-mail server you will be using for sending Ollie-generated e-mails.When any order is approved, a CC of the order will be forwarded to a global e-mail address for thiscustomer. This is typically a purchasing agent for the entire organization. If this feature is not enabled, only orders entered from the Special Products screen will be forwarded to this person.If this is enabled, a CC of the order is always e-mailed to the approver, whether the order required Approval or not. If this is not enabled, only orders whichrequired approval are CC’d to the Approver.If this option is enabled, an e-mail is sent to the original User when an Approver cancels their order.If enabled, an e-mail is sent to the User whenever anOrder is cancelled. |
Void Cancelled Orders? This is not really an e-mail option, but it bears mentioning. If this option is enabled, when a User cancels an order, the order is put into an ‘X’ status. An Activity is attached to the Order indicating the person who cancelled the order and the date and time this happened.If the Void option is not selected, cancelled orders are physically removed from SAFE.
