Sicon Approvals Help and User Guide – Installation for Sage 200

1. Basic Installation – Sage 200

This document will guide you through installing Sicon Approvals onto a server and connecting to a Sage 200 Database.

A video of the process is also available within the Technical Area of the Business Partner Portal.

1.1. Prerequisites & Recommendations

Before attempting to install Sicon Approvals, please refer to the Approvals Install Form on the Business Partner Portal to ensure the prerequisites are fulfilled.  N.B. if Sage 200 Server is installed, most of the prerequisites will be met.

Unlike Sicon Add-on modules, Approvals cannot be downloaded from the Business Partner Portal and Sicon will provide the files relevant to the customer’s version of Sage.  Download and unzip the install files to an accessible location, such as a folder on the desktop.

2. Installing Approvals

The overall steps to install are highlighted below:

It is only possible to install Approvals using the Installer tool – the Pre-Requisite tool can be used prior to install to ensure system requirements have been met.  Further information on each step and either install option are contained in the following sections.

2.1. Creating AD User

This must be completed prior to an Approvals install taking place.

An Active Directory Domain user needs to be created by the IT resource to be used specifically by Approvals prior to the Approvals installation taking place.  This user will then need to be linked to the Administrators and Sage 200 Users Active Directory groups.

Below a new user “Approvals” is being created.

Make sure this user’s password is set to never expire.

Link this user through to the ‘Sage 200 Users’ and ‘Local Administrators’ Active Directory security groups.

If Approvals and Sage are installed on different servers, the Approvals Active Director user needs to be a local administrator on both the Sage Server and the server that Approvals will be running on.

2.2. Create Folder for Approvals Documents

Create a new folder for Approvals to save documents to if not already done.  Make sure this is a local folder the Approvals user has access to; ideally this is held in the root of the data drive and would usually either be created as C:\Sage\ApprovalsDocs or E:\Sage\ApprovalsDocs.

Please note: if the Approvals Documents folder is to be stored somewhere that isn’t the root drive of the same server, ensure that the user running the Sicon_WAP Application Pool (in IIS) has full permissions for this folder:

2.3. Installing Add-Ons

All required add-ons can only be installed using the Sicon Installer which is available on the Business Partner portal – Project Admin area – Product Downloads.

If only Approvals is to be installed, the required add-ons are;

• Sicon Approvals Addons
• Sicon Common Components
• Sicon Common Components Reports
• Sicon DevExpress 18.1 Package 1
• Sicon DevExpress 18.1 Package 2

Open the Sicon Installer application:

Select the Sicon Product version, tick the relevant modules to be installed and select which companies to update:

If other Sicon add-ons have been installed already, these must be hot fixed to the latest version when installing another product.

If companies are not updated as part of the install, ensure companies are updated afterwards.  Green ticks will indicate that the install has completed successfully:

2.4. Linking Approvals User to Sage System Admin

Open Sage System Admin and link through the Approvals user created earlier.

Create a new role “Approvals” which has remote users access only; this will ensure the user does not take up a Sage licence when running the Service.

The only user in this role should be the Approvals user which should belong to no other roles.

Make sure this user has access to all companies.

For the purposes an install only, no features need to be added.  As best practice however, it is recommended that at least the ‘Administrators’ role is assigned the Approvals Addon features initially.  Right click on a Role, choose Features.

Locate and select the Approvals Add-ons tick box and click OK. Please see the Sicon Approvals Add-on Help and User Guide for more information on the features of this add-on.

Make sure that in System Admin ‘Enforce Login Status’ is disabled:

Finally, in the add-ons screen, check that the Sicon modules installed in the last step are showing as expected:

2.5. Log into Sage as the Approvals User

In order for Approvals and Sage to link together correctly, make sure to log into Sage as the Approvals user.  The best way to achieve this is to RDP onto the same server where Approvals will be installed using the user credentials created earlier.

This will mean that once connected as Approvals, the Sage installer will need to be run as they would for any other new user.  Upon opening Sage, a message that the user is in a restricted role will appear.  This is normal and as far as Sage needs to go for the Approvals install.

Click OK and Sage will close automatically.  Sign out of the RDP and return to continue the remaining installation steps.

2.6. Using the Sicon Approvals Installer tool

This tool must be used to install and upgrade Approvals.

All required installers will have been sent and will include an Approvals Installer tool.

Welcome

Ensure that the Approvals Service and Web Application files are saved in the same location like above, and open the Sicon Approvals Installer application. This will open the Welcome section:

If Approvals is installed on the same server as Sage, the tool will be able to pick up the server and Sage 200 Users and Admin groups automatically. Otherwise these details will need to be entered manually. Click next to proceed.

Approvals Validate

Enter the domain account name set up earlier in this guide, and enter the password as configured earlier:

Click ‘Check Now’ to ensure there are no errors and all checks have been completed.  If there are any steps with a red cross, these must be addressed before Approvals can be installed.  Hover over each item to show a tooltip with further guidance:

All checks must show with a green tick before the install can proceed:

Click Next to proceed.

Install

Enter the SQL instance that the Sicon_WAP database will be stored on. This is typically the same as the Sage 200 database location.  Click Re-Check for the installer to detect the SQL credentials using Windows Authentication.

If the Sicon_WAP database does not exist, click to create this and confirm this action is required.

Once all sections of this screen have been completed and green ticks are showing everything is valid, then click ‘Install’ to begin the automatic install process:

The installer will show progress updates:

Once the install of the Application and Service is completed, a popup will appear to confirm this, and the Approvals icon will appear on the desktop:

Click ‘OK’ and move onto the next section of this guide to complete initial configuration.

Tools

Within the installer tool are options to run SQL scripts and uninstall the web application or service.

2.7. Running Initial Approvals Install Wizard

Open the Approvals icon from the desktop; please ensure the default browser is Edge or Chrome – Internet Explorer is not a supported browser.  The only user configured will be the Admin user and the password will need to be changed (the new password must meet default complexity requirements):

After logging in successfully for the first time, the Setup Wizard will assist with configuring the final stages of the install.

Sage Configuration Database

These fields need to be populated to allow for Sage companies to be linked with Approvals.

Miscellaneous Settings

Enter the Approvals Docs file path as created earlier.  Click Check to ensure read/write permissions passed.

Please note: if the Approvals Documents folder is stored somewhere other than the root of the data drive, ensure that the user running the Sicon_WAP Application Pool (in IIS) has full permissions for this folder, otherwise the Check may fail.

Approvals Licence

The Approvals licence must be applied; choose from the three available options:

• I have an Approvals Licence to apply already (for existing sites)
• Generate a temporary Approvals licence
• The system is already set up and licenced (for existing sites who have already gone through the wizard)

Further details on each follow:

I have an Approvals Licence to apply already

Sicon uses online licencing model and therefore this would not usually be required for a new install.  Only select this if an enable string has been issued and click next to continue to the next stage of the setup wizard.

Generate a temporary Approvals Licence

This is the recommended option for new installs since introducing Online licencing.

Select the modules that are relevant to the site.  The online licence will be re-checked at the point of starting the service and override the temporary string enabled at this step.  Click ‘Enable for 30 days’ to continue to the next stage of the setup wizard.

The System is already set up and licenced

Only select this if the customer is already live and Approvals has already been configured previously. Clicking ‘System is already set up’ will exit the install set up wizard which could result in missing some key set-up for new customers.

The wizard will be complete and take the user to the Sage Connections screen ready to link the Sage Database to Approvals.  Move onto ‘Link Sage Database to Approvals.

2.8. Link Sage Database to Approvals

Approvals will work across multiple companies but must be linked to one company to allow for further configuration.  Until this is done and the install competed, it will be normal to see warning messages that the Service is not running and no system base currency has been selected.  These will be resolved once the install has been fully completed.

Click ‘Add a new database connection’ and choose the company to add into Approvals.

All the details will be populated from Sage System Admin, the only options that will need configuring are the standard Tax and Non-Tax rates under the Settings tab.

Alternatively, click ‘Create Empty’ to manually add a Sage Company into Approvals using information from Sage System Admin.

2.9. Start Approvals Service

Once the install is complete, the Approvals Service must be started through Services.

Once started, check the Event Viewer to make sure that the service has started and there are no errors being logged in the Sicon applications and services log:

Once this has been done, upon logging back into Approvals, the warning messages displayed after running the initial setup wizard will now have been resolved.

This completes the basic installation ready for the configuration of users, approval routes and enabled modules.

2.10. Sicon Pre Requisite Tool

This tool may be sent prior to an install to ensure the server requirements have been met.  There is no option through this tool to install the product.

Confirm the server names and group names on the Welcome page, click Next.

Enter the password for the Approvals domain account, click Check Now.  If any of the checks fail, a red cross will show and the check can be hovered over for an explanation to show.  Click OK when all checks have passed.

There is a screenshot option to be able to send the checklist through to Sicon if required to allow an upgrade or install to be confirmed.

3. Single Log on and Windows Authentication

Changing to or setting up Windows Authentication with Sicon Approvals:

All users should be logged out of the system when configuration takes place. If not, any users still logged in will be logged out when the IIS settings are changed.

Within Approvals, either amend a username (if user already created) or create the username to match the Windows AD username. Do not delete a user and set up again. Approval routes use the User ID so amending a username will not cause any issues. It is recommended that usernames are set up or changed first, prior to the IIS setting being configured.

The Approvals (WAP) site in IIS should be configured as below. This site will be able to detect the Windows username on the login page and once it has this, will query the Approvals database for a user record with the same username (excluding domain). If found, it will then log in as that user automatically.

4. Approvals Updates - Hotfixes & Upgrades

4.1. Hotfix vs Upgrade Definitions

Hotfix: the process of updating Approvals with a new build of the existing version.
For example, the customer may be on 221.0.1 of the desktop software and a hotfix to version 221.0.2 needs to be applied.  This is usually to resolve an issue in the software.

Upgrade: the process of updating Approvals to a new major release.
For example, the customer may be on 211.0.1 of the desktop software and an upgrade to version 221.0.1 needs to be applied.  This is usually to access newer features in the software.

Regardless of whether a hotfix or upgrade is required, the same process is followed to update the software.  However, new features and important information must always be reviewed before applying any major version upgrades.

4.2. Update Checklist

The following steps are designed as a prompt for Business Partners who have shadowed an Approvals update previously. Many of these steps are also covered in more detail in the earlier section in this guide that covers the install process.

When updating Approvals, the Sicon Addon modules in Sage must also be updated at the same time. Users should be out of Sage and Approvals when updates take place.

Additional notes and tips

Prior to updating Approvals, it is recommended to either:

Remote to the server and then try and log in using the credentials for the Approvals service user.

Run Notepad as a different user (right-click), and use Approvals service user credentials to ensure it can be opened.

If this fails, it is likely the Approvals service username and password provided are incorrect and the install will fail, so obtain the correct credentials before continuing.

5. Release Notes

The release notes page shows which release of the system includes new features or issues resolved.

At the release of Sicon v21 we announced that going forward, we will only be supporting Sage 200c and as such we are able to drop the year from our version numbers. We moved from 201.201.0.0 to 210.0.0.

New features detailed in the Release Notes relating to Pre-Release versions will not be detailed in the current Help and User Guide until the end of development phase.

6. New Features & Important Information