Install SQL Server

The following instructions explain how to download and install SQL Server Express 2019 which is the free version of SQL Server.  Databases are limited to 10GB in size with this version.  A Standard or Enterprise Edition license must be purchased from Microsoft if the database gets larger than that.  If you have a later version of SQL Server Express, installation instructions should be similar.

It will also explain how to install SQL Server Management Studio, which is a free tool and is required for setup of a Solaria database.

Download installers

Download the installer for SQL Server Express 2019 from here:   https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-downloads

Click on the “Download now” button under the “Express” section.

Download the installer for SQL Server Management Studio at the bottom of the same page:

Install SQL Server

1.      Make sure you are logged into the computer as an Administrator.

2.      Double-click on the .exe for the installer.  It should be named something like “SQL2019-SSEI-Expr.exe”.  The SQL Server Installation Center will display.

3.      Select the “Custom” installation type.  The media download target location window will display.

4.      Click on the “Install” button. The installation download will begin and show its progress as it goes.

5.      Once it has finished downloading its files, the SQL Server Installation Center will display.

6.      Click on “New SQL Server stand-alone installation or add features to an existing installation”.  The “License Terms” will display.

7.      Check “I accept the license terms.” and click “Next”.  The “Install Setup Files” will display.

8.      Next, the “Install Rules” will display.  If there are any “Failed” rules, you will need to address those before continuing.

9.      Click “Next”.   The “Feature Selection” will display.

10.   Check the items in the “Features” list as shown above.  (Items not visible are unchecked.)  

11.   Click “Next”.   The “Instance Configuration” will display.

12.   Leave the default names as shown above and click “Next”.  The “Server Configuration” will display.

13.   Set the Startup Type to “Automatic” for both SQL Server Database Engine (already set) and SQL Server Browser.  

14.   Click “Next”.   The “Database Engine Configuration” will display.

15.   Select “Mixed Mode” and enter a password of “Admin1234”.  Some machines may require stronger passwords.  Just be sure to write it down and remember it if you use a different password!

16.   Click on “Next”.   The installation will begin and its progress will display.  

17.   When it’s complete, the “Complete” window will display.

18.   Click “Close” then close the window of the SQL Server Installation Center.

Install SQL Server Management Studio

1.      Double-click on the .exe for the Management Studio installer.  It should be named something similar to “SSMS-Setup-ENU.exe”.   The Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio window will display.

2.      Click “Install”.   It will work on loading packages and installing the files.

3.      When the installation is complete, the following window will display.

4.      Click “Restart” to reboot the computer.

Create Solaria Database

1. Open SQL Server Management Studio and log in with “SQL Server Authentication” as the system administrator (sa/Admin1234).
2. Create a new database in SQL Server called “Solaria”.  (Leave all defaults.)
   1. Expand the server node to show the “Databases” node.
   2. Right-click on the “Databases” node and select “New Database…”

c.     The “New Database” window will display.

d.     Enter the name “Solaria” and click “OK”.

e.     Click on the “Solaria” node now shown in the “Databases” node.

3. Open the AcclaimSolariaDDL.sql script found in C:\Program Files (x86)\Acclaim Legal Solutions\Acclaim Solaria\database.  
   1. Make sure the Solaria database is selected in the drop-down list in the top left of the window.

2. Execute the script by clicking on the “Execute” button next to the drop-down list.
3. Open and Execute the InsertDefaultData.sql script found in the same folder (making sure the Solaria database is still selected in the drop-down list.
4. Close SQL Server Management Studio.

Turn on SQL Server TCP/IP Protocol

1.      Open the SQL Server Configuration Manager program on the computer.

2.      Expand “SQL Server Network Configuration” on the left panel.

3.      Select “Protocols for SQLEXPRESS”.

4.      Enable the TCP/IP protocol.  Right-click on the name and select “Enable”.

5.      Right-click again on the TCP/IP protocol and select “Properties”.

6.      Click on the “IP Addresses” tab and scroll all of the way to the bottom of the list.

7.      Delete the number showing in “TCP Dynamic Ports” and enter “1433” in “TCP Port” as shown below.

NOTE: If there is more than one instance of SQL Server installed on the computer, each one must use a different port.  If there is already one using 1433, assign this one to 50000 or higher.

8.      Click on “OK” to save.

9.      Click on “SQL Server Services” on the left panel.

10.   Right-click on “SQL Server (SQLEXPRESS)” on the right panel and select “Restart”.

11.   Close the SQL Server Configuration Tool.

Open Firewall Ports

1.      Open Windows Defender Firewall and click on “Advanced Settings”.

2.      Create an “Inbound Rule” allowing TCP port 1433 for all profiles.  (Substitute 1433 if a different port was used above.)  

3.      Create an “Inbound Rule” allowing UDP port 1434 for all profiles.  (This is for the SQL Browser service.)  

4.      On each workstation, create an “Inbound” rule for the program C:\Program Files\Acclaim Legal Solutions\Acclaim Solaria\AcclaimSolaria.exe if it doesn’t already exist.  

5.      Also on each workstation, create an “Inbound” and “Outbound” rule for FTP ports 20 & 21, if they don’t already exist.

NOTE: You may need to add these rules to any firewalls used by anti-virus software as well, such as McAfee.

Log Into Solaria

1.      On each workstation, open Acclaim Solaria.

2.      The first time it opens, you will be prompted for the Serialization.  Use the following:

3.      Log in with the following default values (assuming the same names were used above for the database):

Modify the items in red for your server name.

4.      The setup for the workstation should be complete.

SQL Database Backups

Regular backups should be made of the database and repository files.  Copies of the files should be saved on media other than the same hard drive, such as on CD’s, other computers or in the cloud.  Ideally, copies should be stored off-site at regular intervals in case of natural or unexpected disasters in the office.

It is recommended that you keep a separate back up for each day of the week.  For example, keep a “Monday” backup, a “Tuesday” backup, etc.   This way you can revert back to a day prior to the previous day’s backup in case you find data was corrupted before the current day.

For the Solaria Microsoft SQL Server database, backups can be made manually using SQL Server Management Studio:

1.      Right-click on the database name in the Database tree.

2.      Select Tasks -> Backup… from the context menu.

3.      Click on “Remove” if any files are listed.

4.      Click on “Add…” and enter a file name for the backup, such as “Solaria_[Date].bak” and click on “OK”.

5.      Click on “OK” on the main window to being the backup.

NOTE: this only creates a backup file on the same computer.  We recommend copying this file off-site!

There are other free applications you can use to back up your database.  We recommend using the free version of “SQL Backup and FTP” by Pranas.NET which can be downloaded at http://sqlbackupandftp.com.  We also offer a low cost FTP site you can use to back up your databases to with this tool.   (This gives you a place off-site to store your backups.)