VPN setup

Hey I'm setting up VPN access for some employees that work off site alot. I have the Advantage DB and everything installed correctly I believe. The services are running and I have the client files already on the client machine but I'm getting an error when running the exe. Its saying my server path is invalid.

Can anyone provide an example of a server path so I can verify Im setting this up correctly?

Did you configure the RangerMSP ini file and if so does it point to a valid path also accessible while connected over VPN? Also, if the error is 6420 you should configure an ADS.ini file teaching the client where the SQL server is bypassing auto-discovery that isn't working out of the box when VPN connections.

The ini file is configured and I went ahead and configured the ADS file for good measure. I think my path is wrong in the commitvrm.ini file. Do you have an example of a path back to a server I can verify against?

path=<path-to-your-office-server>\CommitCRM\DB\

Im not sure if I need an just an IP or IP and port or what.

You need to set a value for the path token.

Change
<path-to-your-office-server>\RangerMSP\DB\

To the path you connect from your remote VPN'd PC to the RangerMSP folder on your server.
It may be something like:

\\192.168.0.1\share\apps\RangerMSP\Db

Etc.

Hope this helps.

Hmm still getting the same error. I have "\\173.167.xx.xxx\R\commit\commitcrm\db" as my path. Does the CommitCRM VPN service work as a standalone VPN or will I need to be connected via my own VPN solution such as Hamachi? Also, does the local folder for CommitCRM on my server need to be shared?

You must be connected through VPN to your office before anything will work. RangerMSP does not bring VPN technology, once you are connected using VPN then you should be able to launch RangerMSP.

So, first thing is to connect to your office via VPN, then verify that you can access this path \\173.167.xx.xxx\R\RangerMSP\RangerMSP\db , outside of RangerMSP and then proceed with RangerMSP client.

Hope this helps.

Ahh I see. That makes much more sense. So I have the VPN set up and I have connectivity from my client to server. I have the proper drives shared and mapped for good measure.

I was able to get past the initial error and I'm now at the CommitCRM login screen. It authenticates me but I get a different error this time. 6097. The KB doesn't seem to have any info about this error. My ADS ini seems correct and the path is correct. Any ideas?

This error means that the client couldn't connect to the SQL backend.
You should review the content of your ADS.ini file (you can email it to our support@ for review, in case you do not want to post it here).

Also, verify that the remove client PC over VPN now has full access rights and all privileges to the entire RangerMSP folder tree on the remote server.

BTW, may try to RDP to the server and run RangerMSP over RDP while connected over VPN. This would be the fastest option and will bypass the current issues.

Hope this helps.

I don't mind to post here since it's pretty much all LAN IPs.

ADS.ini file contains:

[FTPSERVER]
LAN_IP=192.168.2.20
LAN_PORT=6262

Remote client has full access to the entire drive the CommitCRM directory is in.

Ideally we do RDP in and use the local client but occasionally we have issues with our remote software services not starting properly or other small things like that and we would like the VPN service over CommitCRM to work as a backup.

When connected through VPN - can you ping 192.168.2.20?

Also, verify that the SQL backend port is configured to use port 6262 (run Advantage Database Configuration utility for this.).

Verify that this port is not blocked in your firewall and is allowed when you connected over VPN to the server.

Also - change the path in RangerMSP ini file to use the 192.168.2.20 address (as part of the path to the Db folder).

And lastly, please add the following lines at the end of your ADS.ini file:

[192.168.2.20]
LAN_IP=192.168.2.20
LAN_PORT=6262

Save and give it another try.

Ive run into some weird issues. I can ping the server name (FTPSERVER) but not the IP. Response times out.

The SQL backend is running and is configured to use port 6262. The port is open in my firewall as well.

I changed the path to the IP instead of the server name and got the original error where the path could not be found. I changed it back since it didnt help.

I changed the server name to the IP in the ADS file and I was able to connect successfully but the connection seemed super slow and the program took about 5 minutes to fully load.

I can now get the program to load soooometimes. Every third time or so I try it will load but the other times i get the 6097 error.

Interesting, as well as why you couldn't ping to the server by its IP.

Anyway, here's a thought - it is possible that your server has multiple IP addresses, if that's the case then we recommend that you force Advantage Database Server to use a specific IP address by specifying the LAN_IP_ADDRESS server configuration parameter as follows:

1. From the server computer that is running the SQL/Advantage service, click Start - Run - and then type "regedit" and hit enter.

2. In the window that opens navigate to:
\\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Serv ices\Advantage\Configuration\

3. Right-click above the values/settings (right side) area and select "New".
Then select "String Value".

4. For the Name type LAN_IP_ADDRESS and add the entry.

Then -

5. Right-click the new entry LAN_IP_ADDRESS and select "Modify". For the "Value Data" field set the IP address to be used for the SQL server. This must be a valid IP address for the server; for example, the IP address that comes up when running ipconfig from a command prompt.

Save.

Restart the SQL service, Advantage Database Server. Test.

Hope this helps.