Source Reliance FAQ

Source Reliance FAQ

This is the list of frequently asked questions for Source Reliance. If you have any suggestions for questions you would like to see listed here or ones you feel would be helpful to others, please send them to suggestions@corestech.com.

How do I install and set up the Source Reliance Demo?

The Source Reliance installation program allows you to install a demonstration version of Source Reliance in which all five software components of Source Reliance are installed on a single computer. When you install the demo, all the components are automatically configured and set up, including a live demonstration database. You can perform any actions in this database you wish, and you may set up other databases, server installations, and client installations as needed. The demo license is a full-featured license for 5 users, and is active for 30 days.

For more information about the demonstration install refer to the demo installation quick start guide.
How do I install and set up a purchased version of Source Reliance?

Installing and setting up Source Reliance is quick and easy. The installation program allows you to install the specific components of Source Reliance that you want on a particular computer. You will need to install the Source Reliance^™ License Server, and at least one Connection Point and Data Server. The Source Reliance^™ Client applications are then installed on all the computers that you want to access Source Reliance from. Refer to the installation quick start guide for more information. Also refer to the Source Reliance installation scenarios and the configuration guide to get a quick understanding of the Source Reliance system topology that will best suit your needs.
How do I set up a forward-facing Connection Point or Data Server?

You set up a forward-facing (available on the public internet) Connection Point or Data Server to make the server available to users outside of your network environment. Connection Point servers are made forward-facing to support remote users. Data Servers are made forward-facing to allow access to the data from two or more license domains (usually geographically distributed offices in a company).

On single-homed server computers (only one IP address on the computer), installing the Connection Point or Data Server on that computer will be all that is needed to get the server to use that computer's address. If you are using a multihomed server with two or more network addresses, you will need to use the Manage Individual Local Servers dialog in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator to specify the public IP address to use. For both the Connection Point and Data Servers, you need to specify the IP address to use in the Server Address field of the dialog.

When a Connection Point Server is made forward-facing, users can connect to it from outside your company. Those users will log into the system through that Connection Point Server. The security that is associated with a particular user is applied regardless of which Connection Point Server they log into so you can specify the user's security rights once and they are applied no matter where they log in.

When a Data Server is made forward-facing, other Connection Point Servers from outside your company's local network can connect to it to make the data available to their users. For security purposes it is critical that you use strong Authentication IDs to secure the connection between your forward-facing Data Server and the Connection Point Servers that are using it. Refer to the in-product documentation in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator for more information about Authentication IDs.

Normal network security practices need to be followed when making servers forward-facing. Please refer to the Source Reliance Best Practices for setting up remote users and sharing data across license domains.
How do I set up user accounts in Source Reliance?

Setting up users in Source Reliance is easy, and is required to allow those users to access the system. The Manage Users dialog in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator is used to add, edit, and delete users, as well as set the security rights for those users. Refer to the in-product documentation for more information about how to use the Manage Users dialog.
How do I set up remote users?

Setting up remote users in Source Reliance is easy. You simply make a Connection Point Server forward-facing, and set up the user accounts for the remote users. There is no difference in how you set up a remote user versus a local (regular) user. The user account and security information is exactly the same. The only difference with a remote user is they will connect to the system using the forward-facing Connection Point Server. Please refer to the Source Reliance Best Practices for more information describing setting up remote users.
How do I set up Source Reliance services to run under a specific user account?
To set up a Source Reliance server component (License, Connection Point, or Data Server) to use a specific logon account when running as a Windows service, you need to follow these steps:
- Set the LogOn user for the service
  - You must install the Source Reliance services and then stop them (do not uninstall them since you must have them installed in order to modify the login user for them).
  - In the Windows services manager select the Source Reliance service, select Properties, and then the LogOn tab. Select or specify the user you want the service to log on as. Typically NETWORK SERVICE is used (note that the NETWORK SERVICE account does not have a password).
- Set the server folder permissions
  - Set the data folder (C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SourceReliance) for the service to allow for full control for the logon user account.
- Set the database folder permissions
  - For the Data Server, the database folders must also have full control specified for the logon user account.
Here are some notes about specifying logon users:
- The License Server must be run with administrator privileges.
- The Connection Point server and Data Server can be run under limited privileges (usually the NETWORK SERVICE account).
- If you do not give the appropriate NTFS folder permissions for the logon user account, when you try to start the Source Reliance services the Source Reliance^™ Administrator will hang. This is because the services are started, killed, and restarted continuously by the Windows Service Manager. This happens because the service does not have rights to run and the Windows Service Manager tries to start it repeatedly.
- You can create a user-defined account to run the services under. They must allow at least the NETWORK SERVICE permissions.
- To run the Source Reliance^™ Administrator program, you must have administrator privileges on the computer (it starts and stops services which require admin rights).
How do I set up a database for automatic backup?

The Database Backup Settings dialog in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator allows you to set up scheduled automatic backup processing for a database. This dialog allows you to specify when the backups will be performed, where the backup file will be placed, and how the backup file will be named. Refer to the in-product documentation for more information about using this dialog.

When you set up Source Reliance to perform automatic backups on your databases, you will need to update your existing backup processes within your organization to pick up the backup files generated by the Source Reliance automated backup.
What files need to be backed up in a Source Reliance installation?

When setting up the backup processing in your environment to include Source Reliance, not only should you include the Source Reliance databases in your backup, but you should also include the Source Reliance server configuration files. These files maintain the information about Source Reliance server topology, user accounts, and security groups. The Source Reliance server components store their files in the C:\Documents and Settings\All Users\Application Data\SourceReliance folder on the computer they are running on. You should include the contents of this folder in your backup process for each computer that runs a Source Reliance service (License, Connection Point, or Data Server).
How do you activate a new license in Source Reliance?

Activating a new license is done in the Activate Purchased License dialog in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator. There you enter your Customer and Authentication numbers you were given in your purchase receipt e-mail, and your license is activated automatically.

You must have an active internet connection in order to activate your license using the automated system. If you do not have an internet connection available you can activate your license by using the Activate Purchased License by E-mail command in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator.
How do I set up Change Sets and Change Set Categories?

Change Sets and Change Set Categories are set up using the Change Set Management dialog in the Source Reliance^™ Client. There you can create categories and Change Sets, manage associations between Change Sets, and view Change Set activity. Refer to the in-product documentation for more information about Change Set management.

You can also manage Change Set information using the Source Reliance Command Line Interface. This interface is used to incorporate Source Reliance into your workflow, and can be used to programmatically manage your Change Set information.

Also refer to the Source Reliance Best Practices page for information about Change Set management.
How should my project source code be organized in Source Reliance?
Here are some tips to organizing your data in Source Reliance:
- Divide your code base along logical boundaries
  
  You should divide your code base along logical boundaries such as application source code, shared components, third party libraries, etc. In most organizations it is pretty easy to identify these boundaries. They tend to correspond to product and subcomponent deliverables, development teams, etc. In traditional SCM systems they often correspond to projects created in the database.
- Create a database for each project/component
  
  Each component identified above should be placed in its own database. In Source Reliance there is essentially no overhead for having multiple databases to represent a data set rather than a single database. You should take those high level projects found in your existing SCM system and put them into their own databases. Even if all these databases are going to live under one Data Server, segregating your code logically into individual databases allows you to easily manage those databases in the future if you need to.
- Keep data close to users
  
  If your organization is large enough to require multiple Connection Point Servers and multiple Data Servers, keep the CP and Data Servers as close to the users of that data as possible from a network standpoint. This makes it easier to administer the data and will reduce traffic on your network outside the user's sub network.
For more information about organizing your Source Reliance system and project source code refer to the Source Reliance Best Practices page.
How do I set up specific rights to database content for a user?

User access rights in Source Reliance are controlled using security groups. Security groups define the global options and rights to individual databases and projects. Security groups are then associated with one or more users to control those user's access to the data.

The security groups are created and managed using the Manage Security Groups dialog in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator. Association of users with security groups is done using the Manage Users dialog in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator. Refer to the in-product documentation for these dialogs for more information.

For more information about securing your Source Reliance content refer to the Source Reliance Best Practices page.
How do I break up one database into multiple databases?

Breaking up one large database into multiple smaller databases is easy to do. The process involves generating a backup file of the large database, and restoring that backup using a different database name (the name of the new smaller database). The content that you want to "move" is deleted from the original database, and the content you want to keep in the original database is deleted from the newly restored database. The result is that you have broken up the original database into multiple databases.

The deletion of the database content is done using the Source Reliance^™ Client application. For more information about breaking up databases refer to the topic "Breaking Up Large Data Sets" in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator in-product documentation.
How do I move a database from one computer to another?

With Source Reliance being a distributed database environment, moving a database from one computer to another is simple. In the Source Reliance^™ Administrator, select the database you want to move, right click and select to Delete the database. This does not delete the database content from the file system, it simply deletes the reference to that database by the Data Server.

Now you can move the contents of the database folder (and all its subfolders) from the local file system to the new computer.

Once you have moved the database files and subfolders to their new location, go into the Source Reliance^™ Administrator and select the Data Server that you want to now own the moved database. Right click on the Data Server and select Open Database. Navigate to the folder that contains your moved database files and select to open the database.
What if I need to move my License Server to another computer?

The Source Reliance license is tied to the computer on which the License Server is running. If you need to move your License Server to another computer, you will need to reactivate your license for that new computer.

The system prevents multiple activations of a license from different computers, so you will need to contact us to allow the new activation. We will simply inactivate your existing license and allow you to reactivate your license on the new computer. You can contact us by using the Activate Purchased License by E-mail command in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator, or by sending us an e-mail at support@corestech.com. You can also call us at +1.507.637.0019 and we will be happy to assist you to get you up and running quickly.
How can I start or stop Source Reliance services on a remote computer?

You can start and stop Source Reliance services (the License, Connection Point, or Data Server) installed on a remote computer by using the Manage Individual Remote Servers dialog in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator. There you specify the remote server to log into you can then start and stop its installed Source Reliance services.

Note that you must have File and Printer Sharing enabled on the remote computer, and the Source Reliance services need to be installed in the Microsoft Management Console on the remote computer. Refer to the in-product documentation for more information about remote server management.
What is the difference between an administrator account and a user account?

Administrator accounts are used to authenticate users in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator. Administrator accounts do not consume a seat of your license, and you can have as many administrator accounts as you wish. Administrator accounts only allow you to log into the Source Reliance^™ Administrator and administer the Source Reliance system. You cannot perform Source Reliance^™ Client activities using an administrator account.

User accounts are used to authenticate end users to the system, and allow those end users to log into the Source Reliance^™ Client to perform work. Each user account occupies a seat of the Source Reliance license. User accounts cannot be used to log into the Source Reliance^™ Administrator to administer the system.
What if a person needs to be able to use the Client application and also administer the system?

If a person needs to have access to the Source Reliance system as both an end user and an administrator, you need to create both a user account and an administrator account for them. It is common practice to make the login names for both accounts be the same for simplicity. That way the person only needs to remember their single user login in order to gain access to both the Source Reliance^™ Administrator and the Source Reliance^™ Client applications.
How do I undo checkouts or cancel a merge that a user has active?

The Manage Projects dialog in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator allows you to select a project within a database and forcibly undo the checkouts that exist, or an active merge in progress involving the project. This is usually done when a user errantly leaves files checked out of a public project, or does not complete a merge in progress.
How do I move one user's workspaces to another user?

The Manage Workspaces dialog in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator allows you to move the workspaces owned by one user to another user. This is commonly done when the owner of the workspace containing work in progress is no longer going to be working on that project, or has left the company. When the workspace is moved to the new user, that new user becomes the complete owner of the workspace as if they had created the workspace and all its content changes themselves.
How do I set up Source Reliance Servers on multihomed computers?

When installing Source Reliance on single-homed server computers (only one IP address on the computer), installing a Source Reliance Server on that computer will be all that is needed to get the server to use that computer's address. If you are using a multihomed server with two or more network addresses, you will need to use the Manage Individual Local Servers dialog in the Source Reliance^™ Administrator to specify the IP address to use. For License, Connection Point, and Data Servers, you need to specify the IP address to use in the Server Address field of the dialog. Refer to the in-product documentation for more information.