Author: uf_admin

10.5 Transfer the UniField Instance From One Computer to Another.

The project is small, so I have had UniField on a computer that is not very powerful, but now the project is going to grow. How can I transfer my instance from one computer to the other?

• You ask all the users to stop working on the instance (or you cut the instance from the network).
• You need to backup the database and the following configuration files:
  • openerp-server.conf in C:\Program Files (x86)\msf\Unifield\Server
  • openerp-web-oc.cfg in C:\Program Files (x86)\msf\Unifield\Web\conf
  • copy the directory “C:\Program Files (x86)\msf\SSH_CONFIG” to the new computer
  • pg_hba.conf and postgresql.conf in D:\MSF data\Unifield\PostgreSQL
• You need to install UniField on the new computer.
• You restore the configuration files from the old instance on the new instance.
  • Generate a new base backup (continuous-backup procedure)
• You reboot the computer.
• You restore the database using the UniField password from the old instance.
• You login as an admin and enter the synchronization password.
• You connect the instance to the synchronization server.

The new instance keeps its old instance ID and thus is already validated at synchronization server side. The users can now continue with their work.
If the UniField machine gets its IP address from a DHCP server, you may consider updating the latter as the machine is different, so is its MAC address.

10.4 Web page

How do I connect to the UniField interface?

Use a web browser like Firefox, and enter in the address field, the IP of the machine running UniField and the port 8061: e.g. http://IpAddress:8061

I know the UniField address and port of the local instance, I can connect locally using localhost instead of the IP address but I cannot connect remotely.

Check if the Web port 8061 is opened in Windows Firewall. Refer to the installation procedure to know how to open it.

I cannot connect locally to UniField with http://localhost:8061, what should I do?

Maybe the default port has been changed by your OC. Check the value of “server.socket_port = PPPP” in the file C:\Program Files (x86)\msf\Unifield\Web\conf\openerp-web.cfg
If instead of PPPP there is a value such as 80, then try to connect to http://localhost:80
If it still does not connect, check if the OpenERP services are running: click on the Windows logo.
In the “Search program and files” field, enter “services” and click on “services” in the options suggested
Check the status for OpenERP Server, OpenERP Web and Postgres. If they are not started, start them.

I know the web port of my local instance is correct and the firewall authorized the access to that port and yet, I get an error “Unable to connect. Firefox can’t establish a connection to the server at […]”

The web service may be down. Check if the OpenERP services are running:
Click on the Windows logo
In the “Search program and files” field, enter “services” and click on “services” in the options suggested
Check the status for OpenERP Server, Postgres. If they are not started, start them.

I’m connected to the UniField interface but when I try to log in, no database appears in the drop down list

It seems the OpenERP server process cannot connect to the database. On Linux, it needs a local user while on Windows OpenERP needs a login and a password to connect to PostgreSQL. Have they been changed since the installation? If you backed up the configuration files right after the installation, you could have a look in those. Otherwise, if you did change the password intentionally, you need to update the OpenERP server configuration file. The path can be found in the “Backing up and Restoring” documentation.

Can I make certain users log in to certain instances by default?

You can help them to make a bookmark on their computer that makes their preferred instance the default. First, have them log out from Unifield. Navigate to the login page, and note that in the URL bar there is something like http://unifield/openerp/login?db=&user=
You can edit this to include the database name you want between the db= and the &, for example:
http://unifield/openerp/login?db=HQ1&user=finref
Hit return to test that the database popup is set like you want. Then make a bookmark. The bookmark will include the preferred database that you just set in the URL.

10.3 Installation

When I start the UniField installer, a Windows screen prompted me for a login and password, what should I enter?

You need to enter the Windows credentials of an account with administrative rights to be able to install UniField.

I just installed UniField and I successfully connected to the web page but I cannot see any databases.

You’re not done with the installation process. You need to create the database and then set-up the instance. Refer to the installation documentation and the initial set-up documentation

I would like to change the groups of my instance. How should I do?

Beware that the instance will not be able to synchronize as long as the modifications are not validated on the synchronization server. Start the registration process in the synchronization menu, do NOT change the uuid, select the groups and register. You must now inform the rightful persons to validate the changes.

10.2 General FAQ

What is OpenERP? What is UniField? OpenERP is an open source integrated enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. UniField is based on OpenERP with extra features developed for and by MSF to meet our specific needs. UniField is the new integrated supply and finance system, which is intended to replace the current systems used in the field (i.e. Log7 and Boox for examples). The system has been a joint effort of all the OCs by a team based in Geneva.What is an instance? What is the synchronization server?An instance is an installation of UniField. It could be a project, coordination or an HQ. The instances exchange data through the synchronization server, which is designed to compensate for bad or unreliable connectivity. The instances have been designed to work offline.
Synchronization has to be performed regularly, either on an automatic or manual basis. For production instances the best practice is to do at least one per day and if possible during the out of business hours (e.g. do not wait 1 month to synchronize your instance as the process would take long time).
To save bandwidth, only data matching rules are sent to the synchronization server. It means not all the data are sent – this means the synchronization process is not a backup solution as it does not create a database duplicate.I’m not administrator on the server, can I install UniField anyway?No, you need administrator rights.What Windows 7 Pro specificities do I need to know to install UniField?You need administrator rights, the system user openpgsvc created when installing the All-in-one must have English US as Format in the regional settings.What is PostgreSQL?It’s an open source RDBMS (Relational Database Management System), just like MySQL, Oracle, MS SQL Server, … It’s the program which stores the data into databases.Which browser is recommended for UniField?Firefox is our browser of choice when developing and supporting UniField. As a result, we advise you to use the last version of this browser.Where should I install UniField?The best practice is to install UniField on a dedicated machine and work on UniField remotely with a browser. As for the paths, it is recommended to leave the default ones.What is the minimum specification for the UniField machine?The OS target is Windows 7 Pro 64 Bits. The recommendation is to have at least 4 GB of RAM and of course the best CPU possible.What is the UniField password?The UniField password is used to interact with anything regarding the databases (creation, backup, restore, drop). It must be changed right after the UniField installation followed by a backup of the configuration files.What is a log?A log is a journal where events are written. It helps to understand what happened or what went wrong at a particular time.Where are the logs?To avoid having a log file with a big size, UniField has a log rotate. This means that there will be several files over the time. The logs can be found in C:\Program Files (x86)\msf\Unifield\ServerLog. The latest log file is openerp-server.log while the older are named openerp-server.log.2012-12-17 for example.How do I preselect a specific instance and user on the URL?It is possible to provide a specific URL to your users so when they connect to the UniField interface the instance and the user will automatically be preselected. The URL could be then saved as a bookmark.
e.g. we would like to have the instance to HQ1C1 and the user to fin_hr
http://localhost:8061/openerp/login?db=HQ1C1&user=fin_hr

10.1 Requirements

To be able to synchronize, the user must know the login and password for synchronization. The synchronization login and password are different from the ones used to log onto the interface.