QuickBooks .ND file FilePath

Hey there, @CDU. 

I hope you're having a wonderful day so far. 

The .ND file is the network data file that is located where the company file is. Based on the two file paths you have listed above, it appears your .ND file would be located at D:\QuickBooks\CompanyFile.QBW because the D drive is local, whereas the \\server is not. 

For more details about the .ND file, check out: .ND files in QuickBooks Desktop.

Please let me know if you have further questions or concerns. I'll be here to help guide you every step of the way. You can always reach out to the Community or me anytime you have questions or concerns. Take care and have a great rest or your day! 

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@Tori B wrote:

Hey there, @CDU. 

 

I hope you're having a wonderful day so far. 

 

The .ND file is the network data file that is located where the company file is. Based on the two file paths you have listed above, it appears your .ND file would be located at D:\QuickBooks\CompanyFile.QBW because the D drive is local, whereas the \\server is not. 

 

For more details about the .ND file, check out: .ND files in QuickBooks Desktop.

 

Please let me know if you have further questions or concerns. I'll be here to help guide you every step of the way. You can always reach out to the Community or me anytime you have questions or concerns. Take care and have a great rest or your day! 

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 Direct from the about ND link

"An .ND file is created in the same folder as the company file and is identified with an .ND file extension:"

I would think that both address are correct and that only one ND file exists (or should) Easy enough to change any existing ND files to NDOLD and then restart QuickBooks and a new ND file will be created in proper place. 

Thanks for the reply, but it doesn't really answer my question. You seem to be telling me where the file is located. Obviously, I know that if I opened it (it's on the server, btw). I already read the page you linked to, before I started this thread, and it doesn't answer my question either.

My confusion is this...

If ".ND files include the information QuickBooks needs to communicate with the server" as stated in the ".ND files in QuickBooks Desktop" page, and the FilePath value inside that file has the server's C: drive, isn't the workstation going to try to look for the file on its own C: drive? Wouldn't the workstation need to know to look at the server's shared folder, instead?

When multi-user access is on and you access a company file from a connected workstation you browse for the *QBW file on the server. If the C drive on the server contains the company file then the path to the file from the workstation is through the server and the server C as well as Company Files folder and possibly other parent folders on the server must be set to offer full sharing on the local network.

Sorry John. My reply was directed to Tori.

Still looking for some answers.

Yesterday, QuickBooks connectivity was broken again. When I checked the .ND file, it contained the network path like this:

• FilePath=\\Server\Share\CompanyFile.QBW

I used QuickBooks Database Server Manager to re-scan, and it changed the .ND file back to this, and it now works again:

• FilePath=D:\QuickBooks\CompanyFile.QBW

I guess that answers the question in my original post on which one is correct. But, why or how did it end up with the first one above, if the second one is the correct one? I didn't change the file, so QuickBooks Database Server Manager must have set it both ways. What would cause it to change it to the wrong value?

Thank you IamjuViel

The .ND file was wrong again this morning. It was working fine yesterday, then this morning it was broken.  There are only 3 users, and I've already educated them to never set their QB to do hosting.

Any other ideas why the .ND file continues to get changed?  (I think the owner of the company may have left QB open overnight. Can that cause this problem?)

Hi, @CDU.
 
Let me share with you an insight regarding your issue. 

The Network Data (ND file) are configuration files that permit the QuickBooks software to access the company file in a multi-user environment. 

Based on the information that you've shared so far, it looks like this has something to do with your hosting or server configuration. In this case, I'd suggest reaching out to an IT person or the hosting provider so the can double-check why it keeps on changing the location.

Please feel free to post if you have further questions. Have a nice day!

I am the IT person. This is for a client of mine.

I have another client, for who, I had to create a script that would continually fix the "ServerIp=" line within the .ND file because it kept switching to the VPN IP address. The script runs every 5 minutes and resets that line back to the LAN IP address. That client says they stopped having issues after I did that.

I'm about create a script for this other client too, except this one will need me to "fix" all of the following lines in the .ND file, since all of these were wrong this morning:

• ServerIp=
• EngineName=
• FilePath=
• ServerMode=

I'm not the only one having trouble with the QuickBooks Database Server Manager making incorrect choices for the .ND file. I've seen others posting about this too.

Thanks for the clarification, @CDU.

Also, I appreciate the details you shared with us. Let me route you to the best support available so this gets addressed right away. I recommend getting in touch with our Support Team.

From there, they can securely check your account and investigate the root cause of this. To reach them, you can follow these steps below. 

In your QuickBooks Desktop (QBDT) software:

1. Go to the Help menu.
2. Select QuickBooks Desktop Help.
3. Click Contact Us. 
4. Give a brief discussion of your concern and click Continue.
5. Choose your preferred way to get in touch with them.

I also encourage checking our Help articles page. From there, you can read some great articles that can guide you in your future tasks.

Should you have any other concerns or questions, you can always get back to us. We're always around to help. Take care and stay safe.

CDU, I was wondering if you could provide the script?   I'm having a similar problem, spent 4 hours on the phone with support and they basically stated they didn't know how to prevent it

CDU, I was wondering if you could provide the script you wrote to fix this?  Similar issue.  4 hours yesterday including on hold times, and the top engineer said she couldn't prevent the issue.

FYI, the solution for this that has been working flawlessly, is to first open the file using QuickBooks on the server itself. It seems that from that vantage point it is able to correctly create the ND file, with all the necessary parameters. Then close QuickBooks and modify the ND file's permissions to ensure that all users connecting to the network share cannot modify that one file. Other files should be left modifiable by them. At that point, the problem seems to have gone away.

Conclusion: It is QuickBooks itself that is scribbling all over its own ND files and causing this issue. Why? No clue. As long as you prevent it from being able to do so, it would seem that it just moves on and connects as usual.

This workaround appears to no longer work with Quickbooks 2022 in our testing. If you attempt to open the company file locally on the server, it won't open unless Everyone has full control over the ND file.