Ideal List Server
Ideal List Server Instruction Manual
Copyright 1999  2002 Ideal Science, Inc.
Written by Joshua Kerr
Manual revision 1.0
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Ideal List Server
Table of Contents
Ideal List Server Instruction Manual.................................................................................................1
Manual revision 1.0 Table of Contents.............................................................................................1
Table of Contents ................................................................................................................................2
Requirements ........................................................................................................................................3
Pre-Configuration ................................................................................................................................4
Install and configure CDONTS................................................................................................4
Installation.............................................................................................................................................5
Install the Database.........................................................................................................................5
Step 1. Create the database........................................................................................................5
Step 2. Run the install.bat file...................................................................................................6
Step 3. Install the SQL job .......................................................................................................8
Credits..................................................................................................................................................12
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Requirements
To use the Ideal List Server you will need the following basic requirements.
1. Windows NT/2000 computer running IIS 4.0/5.0
2. SQL 7.0 or SQL 2000 database
3. ADO 2.5
4. Administrative privileges on your database server
5. CDONTS installed on the database server (installed with IIS)
In order to take advantage of the power of the Ideal List Server, you must run IIS version
4.0 or greater on the SQL database server. The Ideal LS uses the CDONTS mail system
within IIS to send email directly from the database.
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Pre-Configuration
Install and configure CDONTS
In order for the database server to send email you will need to install CDONTS. CDONTS
is typically installed when you install IIS. The following Microsoft article describes the
process by which you would install and configure the database server to send email.
Microsoft article: Q312839
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q312839#2
You must perform the actions listed above or else your Ideal LS installation will not work
correctly.
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Installation
Install the Database
Do not attempt to install this server unless you are experienced in using
SQL and ASP. Ideal Science is not responsible for your actions. If you need assistance
installing this BBS, Ideal Science will do it for you for a fee. The following Instructions
should help you get your BBS up and running in no time.
Uncompress the files you downloaded using winzip or a compatible zip compression
program. When the files are uncompressed you ll see a folder called  install this
database . Inside this folder you ll see a .sql file. You will need to install this file. It is
recommended that you utilize our installation batch file to perform this installation. It will
automate the task of setting permissions.
The image above shows the .sql files included with the Ideal BB.
idealls.sql  this is the main SQL script which contains all of the stored procedures, tables,
and views of the Ideal BB system.
Install.bat  this is the batch file that you will use to install the idealls.sql script. It does a
lot more than just execute the idealls.sql, so make sure you take a look at it before using it.
Step 1. Create the database
The first step in installing the Ideal LS is creating the database. You will want to use the
SQL manager to create the database.
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The Picture above shows the SQL server enterprise manager from SQL 2000. The login
tree is expanded and there is a user called idealbb. You will need to create a user account
following the directions below.
You will need to create an empty database. To do this, right click on the database folder and
select  new. You may customize the settings on the new dialog, but it is really not
necessary.
You may use an Expand the server to reveal the security tree. Expand the
already existing SQL security tree to reveal the logins. Right click on the logins tree
user with the Ideal item and select "new login." Fill in the information on the next
LS. It is not form. Don't forget to create a password for this login. You can
necessary to create a name the new login anything you want, but be sure to remember
new user. the name you choose as you will need to use it in the future.
Step 2. Run the install.bat file.
The most important part of installing the Ideal BB is the actual execution of the install.bat
file. Copy the install.bat file and the idealls.sql files onto the database server. Now you will
want to execute the install.bat file to install the idealls.sql script. You can do this from the
command line by entering the folder containing the database .SQL files and executing this
command:
Install server username password databasename databaseuser
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server: the name or IP of your database server
username: the sa username on your database server
password: the sa password on your database server
databasename: the name of the database you created for the idealls
databaseuser: the database user you created for the idealls
You will want to change the database name so that it reflects the name of the database you
created in the steps above. Also make sure to use the password and username of your
database server s SA or administrator account.
The installation batch file will do the following:
1. Install the database
2. set permissions for the ideal bb user
3. create an administrator for the board with username: admin and password: admin
You shouldn't receive any errors from executing this script. If you do receive errors,
Chances are you are either:
A. not running SQL 7.0 or above
B. don't have the necessary permissions to execute this script
C. aren't executing the script on the SQL server
D. didn't create the proper idealls user mentioned earlier
E. You don t have SQL service pack 1 installed. (Some people have reported that you will
receive errors without having SP1. You do not need SP1 however to use this product.)
F. You didn t create the database user, or entered an incorrect name
If you executed the script correctly, you should see lots of numbers scroll by as the image
above demonstrates. Don t worry about the meaning of these numbers; just be on the look
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out for errors. If you receive any errors during this step, please see our troubleshooting
section located near the end of this document.
If you did run the script successfully, then you are one step closer to getting this board up
and running.
Step 3. Install the SQL job
The SQL job is responsible for automatically logging users out of the system. The Ideal LS
sends email from a queue based on the SQL server. It is necessary to execute a SQL job
every so often to perform the action of sending email. This step is very important and there
are some factors that you might want to consider before creating the job.
For maximum 1. Do you have a lot of email? If you are going to send
performance you will a lot of email from your list server, then you should
want to use the SQL job. probably run your email job several times a day. I
You can however install would recommend running it late at night or early in
the Ideal BB without the the morning when there is more CPU available to
SQL job. Alternate execute the task.
configurations are 2. Is this a dedicated email server? If you SQL database
explained in this section. is dedicated to sending email, then you can execute
the SQL job all day long. However, if this server also
performs other duties it might be better to schedule the SQL job for off peak hours
so that you don t bring down the server with a high CPU load during the send
process.
The following shows how to install the SQL job manually.
First you should expand the management tab on the enterprise manager to reveal the SQL
Server Agent. Expand the SQL server Agent to reveal the Jobs tree item. Right click on the
Jobs tree item and select New Job.
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Ideal List Server
You should see a dialog similar to this one. Go ahead and give the Job a name. I ve called
mine idealls_sendEmail. You may also give the job a description.
Next you will want to assign steps to the job. Click on the Steps tab to open the steps part
of the dialog. Click the NEW button to create a new step.
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I ve called this step sendEmail and it is of type Transact-SQL Script (TSQL.) You will want
to make sure that you select the database you created earlier and that you enter the
command exec processQueue. This will call the stored procedure on your database when
the job is run.
Next click on the advanced tab.
You should see a dialog similar to the one above. Make sure that the job runs as the user
you created earlier. Use the drop down box to select this user.
Click OK to save this step. Now you will need to click the schedule tab to tell the system
when to run this job. Click on the New Schedule button to create a new schedule.
Select recurring and then click the change button.
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These are the settings I chose for my SQL job. Make sure that it runs ever minute daily.
Once you complete this setup you can click OK to save the schedule. Now that the JOB is
setup properly, you may click OK to save the new JOB.
Congratulations, your database is now setup.
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Credits
By Joshua Kerr Copyright 1999 - 2002 Ideal Science, Inc.
Thanks to Sean Ludwick for all of his assistance and advice.
Ideal Bulletin Board and Ideal BB and Ideal List Server are trademarks of Ideal Science, Inc.
Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Windows 2000 and Microsoft Windows NT are
trademarks of the Microsoft Corporation.
© 1999  2002 Ideal Science, Inc.
All rights reserved.
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