Install Linux Database Server Manager

The Linux Database Server Manager contains the QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise database server which stores the QuickBooks company files. Users running QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise on a Windows client computer can access the QuickBooks company files to perform QuickBooks Enterprise operations and request data.

The following information is intended for a system administrator who is familiar with the Linux operating system, understands network operations, and has permissions to properly install and configure the QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Linux Database Server Manager.

Preparing to Install the Linux Database Server Manager

It is important to understand the following before installing the QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Linux Database Server Manager on your Linux Server.

Components

The Linux Database Server Manager consists of the following components:

• The Database server files enable QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise users to read and write data from the QuickBooks company files located on the Linux server.
• The qbmonitord daemon continually monitors the directories that contain the QuickBooks company files to ensure that each directory has a qbdir.dat file. When connected to a Linux server, the QuickBooks client uses the qbdir.dat file to generate a network definition (ND) file for each QuickBooks company file (.qbw and .qba). The ND file enables the QuickBooks client to request data and perform operations on QuickBooks company files. If a qbdir.dat file for a monitored directory is deleted or modified, the qbmonitord daemon creates a new one.
• The qbmonitord configuration file (qbmonitord.conf) specifies the directories that the qbmonitord daemon monitors. These directories contain the QuickBooks company files. Each time you modify the qbmonitord.conf file, the qbmonitord daemon automatically re-reads the file and immediately monitors the specified directories.

System Requirements

Linux Distribution (Operating System - Client and Server)

Linux File Server - Requirements and Performance

• Directories on Linux servers that contains the QuickBooks company file must be configured as a Samba Share
• Samba Share can be mapped as a drive on windows client
• Performance will be impacted on networks running less than 100 Mbps

Client computers

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 21.0 and 22.0

Linux Database Server Manager is supported on the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the following distributions:

• Fedora 32
• OpenSuse Leap 15.2
• Red Hat Enterprise 8 (RHEL 8)

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 20.0

Linux Database Server Manager is supported on the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the following distributions:

• Fedora 29
• OpenSuse Leap 15.0
• Red Hat Enterprise 7 (RHEL 7)

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 19.0

Linux Database Server Manager is supported on the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the following distributions:

• Fedora 27
• OpenSuse 42.3
• Red Hat Enterprise 7 (Update 4)

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 18.0

Linux Database Server Manager is supported on the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of the following distributions:

• Fedora 25
• OpenSuse 42.2
• Red Hat Enterprise 7 (Update 3)

Configuration Recommendations

• Case-Sensitive File Names - Unlike Windows, the filesystem used on Linux is case-sensitive. Filenames that differ only by case may prevent Desktop Enterprise from working properly. Make sure that your QuickBooks company file names are unique.
• Sharing and User Permissions - The directory on your Linux server where you store the QuickBooks company files must be configured as a Samba share so that it can be mapped as a drive on your Windows client computers.
  Important: Samba does not overwrite limits set by kernel-level access control such as file permissions, file system mount options, ACLs, and SELinux policies. Both the kernel and Samba must allow the user to perform an action on a file before that action can occur. Intuit recommends that you do not use anonymous or guest level access.
• Host Name Resolution - To be able to access the QuickBooks company files, Windows clients must be able to resolve the host name or IP address of the Linux server. Make sure Samba is configured correctly to use the Domain Name Server. If you do not have DNS or WINS configured and do not want to use broadcast resolution, you can list the Linux server in the Windows HOSTS file.

Firewall and Antivirus compatibility

If you use firewall and antivirus products, you might have to adjust settings in these products to ensure the best possible performance with Desktop Enterprise (an incorrectly-configured firewall can stop the Linux Database Server Manager from working).

If you experience performance issues that you think are related to your firewall software, refer to the documentation that came with the firewall software or contact your firewall vendor for assistance.

Important: The Linux Database Server Manager uses the following ports

• • QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 22.0: Ports 8019 or 55343 through 55347
  • QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 21.0: Ports 8019 or 55343 through 55347
  • QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 20.0: Ports 8019 or 55343 through 55347
  • QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 19.0: Ports 8019 or 55383 through 55387
  • QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 18.0: Ports 8019 or 55378 through 55382

For more information refer to Configure Firewall and Internet security settings for QuickBooks Desktop

Make sure that the appropriate port is open on both the Linux Server and the Windows Client.
Note: If you are unable to access company files, check that Port 10172 is open on both the Linux server and the Windows client.

Install the Linux Database Server Manager

1. On the Linux server, become the root user.
2. Download the Linux Database Server Manager RPM package.
3. The Linux Database Server Manager RPM package is signed so that you can verify the integrity of the package with the GPG public key:
   • Download the public key onto your Linux server from the QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Web site.
   • In a terminal window, enter the command rpm --import qbdbm-pubkey.asc and press Enter to import the public key into the "keyring" (a database of trusted keys on your Linux server).
   • Enter the command rpm -K <packagename> and press Enter, where packagename is the name of the Linux Database ServerManager RPM package, for example qbdbm-31.0.1.rpm. This verifies the signature of the Linux Database Server Manager RMP with Intuit.
     Note: If the package contains a valid signature from Intuit, the command returns gpg ok.
4. In a terminal window, type rpm -ivh <packagename> and press Enter, where packagename is the name of the Linux Database Server Manager RPM package, for example qbdbm-31.0-1.i386.rpm. For a list of the files installed by the RPM, refer to What files get installed on my Linux server.
5. Create a directory to store your QuickBooks company files.
   Important: The directory that contains the QuickBooks company files must be configured as a Samba share directory. An example of how to configure a share directory is provided in How do I create a Samba share? For more detailed information, refer to the Samba documentation. Make sure you set appropriate permissions for the directory that contains the QuickBooks company files so that your users or user group has access.
6. Copy your QuickBooks company files to the directory you created in step 4.
   Important: Unlike Windows, the filesystem used on Linux is case-sensitive. Do not create QuickBooks company file names on Linux that differ only by case. Make sure that you set appropriate permissions for the QuickBooks company files so that your users or user group can access them.

Configure the Linux Database Server Manager

After installing the Linux Database Server Manager RPM, you must perform the following as the root user:

1. Specify company file directories

   Important: To be able to access the QuickBooks company files located on the Linux server from a Windows client, you must list the directories that contain the QuickBooks company files in the qbmonitord.conf file.

   To specify the directories that contain the QuickBooks company files:

   1. Open a terminal window.
   2. Edit the /opt/qb/util/qbmonitord.conf file to list the directories that store the QuickBooks company files. Enter the full path of each directory on a separate line
      For example: The qbmonitord daemon monitors the directories you specified in step 2 above. For each directory, the qbmonitord daemon ensures that the correct qbdir.dat file exists.
      • /QBData
      • /QBcompanyfiles
   3. Restart the qbmonitord or qbdbfilemon service.
      Important: The qbmonitord daemon does not monitor subdirectories. Be sure you list subdirectories that contain company files in the qbmonitord.conf file.
2. Create a Samba share

   The directory on your Linux server that contains the QuickBooks company files must be configured as a Samba share so that it can be mapped as a drive on your Windows client computers. The following procedure provides an example of how to create and configure a Samba share. For more detailed information about configuring a Samba share, refer to the Samba documentation.

   To create a Samba share:

   1. On the Linux server, become the root user.
   2. In a terminal window, type groupadd -r groupname to create a Linux group (this is the group name that users of QuickBooks will belong to), where groupname is the name of the group you want to create (for example, qbusers).
   3. Add the line groupname: user1, user2, user3 to the /etc/group file to list the users that will be part of the group you created in step 2.
   4. Type useradd user to add each user you specified in step 3 that will be accessing QuickBooks company files stored on the share directory.
   5. For each user you specified in step 4, type smbpasswd -a user to activate the Samba user account and set a password.
   6. Type chmod -R 775 /directory to provide the users read/write/execute permissions to the share directory.
   7. Type chgrp -R groupname /directory to change the group ownership for the share directory.
   8. Edit the smb.conf file to include the following lines. By default, this file is located in /etc/samba.
      [share_name]
      path = /directory
      comment = samba share for company files
      valid users = user1 user2 user3
      public = no
      writable = yes
      printable = no
      create mask = 0765
   9. Replace share_name with the name you want to use for the share (this is the name that your Windows clients can see).
   10. Replace directory with the full path of the directory you want to configure as the Samba share (the directory you created on your Linux server to store the QuickBooks company files).
   11. Type service smb restart to restart the Samba daemon.

   QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise users can now access QuickBooks company files that are located on the Linux server directly from their Windows client machines.

   Refer to QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Installation and Setup Guides for more information about installing and configuring QuickBooks Database Server Manager on Linux.

3. Start qbmonitord.log logging
   • To start outputting log messages to the qbmonitord.log file, restart the syslog daemon after installation.
   • In a terminal window, enter /etc/init.d/syslog restart, then press Enter.

   The syslog daemon restarts and begins to log all qbmonitord messages to the qbmonitord.log file.

You can download the PDF version of the Linux Database Server Manager Installation and Configuration Guide for more information.

Error Messages

The qbmonitord daemon uses the Linux syslog utility. All qbmonitord error log mesages are output to the /var/log/qbmonitord.log file.

Important: You must restart the syslog daemon after you install the Linux Database Server Manager RPM to enable logging to the qbmonitord.log file.

• To view the end of the qbmonitord.log file and examine the output as it continues, enter tail -f /var/log/qbmonitord.log.
• To view more than the last 10 lines, enter tail -n 100 -f /var/log/qbmonitord.log.

Linux Server Error Log Messages

Windows Client Error Messages