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Running CatBase Server on a Windows Cloud Server

You can run the CatBase Server (multi-user version of CatBase) on a Windows server in "the cloud". It cannot be run on a Linux server.

Windows Server System Requirements

Windows Server 2012r2 or later.

Installing the CatBase Server

  1. Open a web browser on the server.

  2. Go to the Downloads page

  3. Download the Server Installer for Windows.

  4. Run the installer. Note: You will need to have Administrator priveleges.

  5. Copy your CatBase database to the server. Don't put it into the CatBase Server application folder! The database file is the one with the .4DD file extension.

Setting up the CatBase Server

The installer, by default, creates a Desktop icon.

  • Right-click the CatBase Server icon and choose Run as Administrator.

  • You'll probably see the "No data file found" dialog:

  • Click the Open button.

  • Locate your CatBase database (the one with the .4DD file extension) and open it. There will probably be a delay as it rebuilds the database indexes - this could take a few minutes if it's a big database.

  • Then you will see the Server admin window.

Port

The default port that the CatBase Server will use is port no. 19813. 

If you need to specify a different port for the CatBase Clients to connect, you can do so:

  • From the Edit menu, choose Settings->Structure Settings

  • Go to the Client/Server tab.

  • Change the Port Number.

  • Save the change.

Setting a Backup Plan

You probably have a backup system in place for your server. But CatBase also has its own incremental backup system. This system creates a fresh backup each night (or whenever you specify), and then creates a log file containing details of every change made to the database. 

Please see the Backup and Restore tutorial for more info.

Run as a Service

We recommend setting the CatBase server to run as a Windows service. For details on setting this up, please see this knowledgebase article.

Connecting a CatBase Client

Once your CatBase Server is running, you can connect to it from a Windows or Mac client.

You'll need to know the server's IP address and the specified port number if you changed it from the default.

  • Launch the CVatBase client app, and immediately - while it is starting up - hold down the Option or Alt key on your keyboard. Keep holding it down until the Connection to 4D Server dialog.

  • Go to the Custom tab:

server connection custom.png

  • Enter a suitable name into the Project Name field (such as "CatBase Cloud Server").

  • Enter the server's IP address into the Network Address field.

  • If you did not change the default Port on the CatBase Server, just the IP address is all you need to enter.

  • If you changed the port number, add it to the IP address with a colon - eg "92.222.111.215:19816"

  • Click the OK button.

  • You should soon be logged in to the server.​

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