SQL Server Installation

BigTime can be installed on an existing corporate SQL Server installation (as long as that corporate server uses SQL Server 2000 sp3 or higher, or SQL Server 2005). The installation is a little different that the standard installation, so you will need to make some adjustments to the install as it runs.

Desktop, Workgroup and Enterprise Databases

Keep in mind that every BigTime system is installed with its own SQL database. Even the desktop version of the system ships with a free desktop version of SQL Server for use with BigTime. So, when we're talking about installing the SQL Server version of BigTime, we're talking about installing the system on an existing "full" version of SQL Server (either residing on the same machine, or on a separate corporate database server).

SQL Server Requirements

• Your SQL Server must be 2000 (sp3 or higher) or 2005.
• Your system must be setup to use a case-insensitive sort order, and
• It must be setup to use "mixed mode" (or SQL) authentication (bigtime requires a specific user name and password and cannot be run as an authenticated windows user).
• The user you select must have a password (e.g. - the password cannot be blank). While the BigTime install screen may accept a blank password, the system will fail to login if the user's password is empty.
• Your SQL Server should be able to see the BigTime install directory. The system installs the BigTime database by attempting to RESTORE a backup file onto that server. This means that your SQL Server will need to be able to see your BigTime system (in particular, the c:\Program Files\BigTime\db\ directory). If that's not possible, the system will fail to create the BigTime database and you'll need to install the database manually.

SQL Server User Requirements

BigTime requires you to supply a specific SQL user login which will be used to login and manipulate the database we create. While most of our customers just use the "sa" login, some customers create a user specifically for BigTime. If you do, make sure that the user has a valid password and has the right to create/delete databases (the install will login as this user and attempt to restore a database backup in order to create your new database).

Setting up a Special BigTime SQL User

The SQL Login used by BigTime will need to be set as the dbo for the BigTime database. If you're using the "sa" login to install BigTime, but you plan to use a different login to access the database once the system is installed, follow these steps in order to make sure the user is actually assigned the dba role within the BigTime database.

1. Don't grant your new user rights to the BigTime database. This may see counter-intuitive, but the next step won't work if your new login is already a user in the BigTime database.
2. Login to the BigTime database as the current admin user (typically "sa").
3. From the Query Analyzer, run the sp_changedbowner stored procedure to add your new user to the BigTime database ("sp_changedbowner 'NEWUSER', 1"). This will (a) add your new login as a database user and (b) assign them the "dba" role.

You can confirm this assignment by looking at the user list for the database. Your new user should be listed as the "dbo" there.

SQL Installation Step-by-Step

1. In order to install BigTime on a SQL Server, you will need to have purchased the Workgroup or Enterprise version of the BigTime. The desktop version of the program will not include a SQL Server login page as a part of the standard installation.
2. Install the system normally. When you see the SQL Server login page, fill in the following:
   1. The fully qualified SQL Server name (remember, SQL Server names follow the format SERVER\INSTANCE).
   2. The name of the database you'd like to create (note that you should not have already created a blank database of the same name prior to install).
   3. The user name/password that should be used to create/populate the initial database (typically "sa").
3. The system will take care of the rest as a standard part of installing under SQL Server!