Move Practice CS to a new server

This topic explains how to move Practice CS and the existing data from 1 server to another. Practice CS shouldn't be copied from 1 server to another. The recommended procedure is to backup the current database, install a fresh copy of Practice CS to the new server, then restore the database on the new server.

Backup the database

  1. While sitting at the original server, open Practice CS.
  2. Select
    File
    then
    Backup
    .
  3. Select the ellipsis next to
    Backup file
    to choose a location where the backup will be saved.
  4. Select
    OK
    to begin the backup process.
Before moving to the new server, you may want to verify the version of SQL being used on the old server. This is important because you can't restore a database to an older version of SQL. For example, if your old server is running SQL 2014, you need to have SQL 2014 or newer installed on your new server.

Install Practice CS on the new server

  1. Go to the new server.
  2. If you haven't already, download the latest version of Practice CS from the My Account page. Select
    Downloads
      on the My Account page to access a list of available downloads. You'll need to sign in to your CS Professional Suite Web Account to access the download.
  3. Practice CS comes packaged with Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Express. If you need to install another version of SQL (remember, the version of SQL on your new server needs to be at least as high as the version running on your old server) or if your server is a domain controller, you'll need to run the Microsoft SQL installation before installing Practice CS. There are a number of topics that you may find useful during this process. Search "install SQL" on the Help and support center to find out more.
  4. Follow the Installation Instructions to install Practice CS. Make sure to run a the desktop installation on the new server so that the application can be opened there. This is required to restore the database, so it must be completed even if no one will be working on the server.

Restore the database

  1. Open Practice CS on the new server.
  2. Go to
    Open Firm
    and select
    Sample
    .
  3. Go to
    Staff ID
    and enter
    ADMIN
    .
  4. Leave the password blank.
  5. Select
    OK
    .
  6. Select
    Help
    then
    About Practice CS
    and then select
    Download Licenses
    . Follow the prompts to download and apply your firm licenses.
  7. Open the Sample firm again using the same Staff ID and password as before.
  8. Select
    File
    then
    Restore
    .
  9. Select the ellipsis next to
    Backup file\directory
    and browse to the location where the backup file is saved. If you get an error when selecting the backup location, see Error: "The file does not contain any backups..." when restoring a SQL database.
  10. Go to
    New Firm name
    and enter a name for the database. This is the name that will show in the
    Open Firm
    dropdown when you open Practice CS.
  11. Select
    OK
    to begin the restore process.

Workstation installation

On each workstation:
  1. Browse to X:\WinCSI\Practice CS\Desktop, where X is the mapped drive of the new server.
  2. Run setup.exe and follow the prompts to complete the workstation installation.

Troubleshooting

If the workstations aren't able to open Practice CS after following the steps described earlier:
  • Uninstall Practice CS from the workstation's Control Panel and run the desktop setup again. Don't uninstall the Practice CS Shared Files. Uninstalling the shared files will uninstall Practice CS from the server.
  • Go through the steps in There is a problem accessing the SQL server, even if you do not receive an error.
  • Verify that your environment is configured correctly:
    • SQL Server best practice for CS Professional Suite applications
    • Windows Firewall Configuration for SQL Applications in CS Professional Suite
    • Antivirus guidelines for CS Professional Suite applications
    • Permissions guidelines for the CS Professional Suite