FAQ - Installation/Upgrades

Automated Installer

1. Why are Maintenance Jobs not running after using the Windows Installer?

If you installed TimeTrex with the Windows installer and you are seeing the following message:

WARNING:  TimeTrex maintenance jobs have not run in the last 48 hours. Please contact your TimeTrex administrator immediately.

Try changing the Windows user that the maintenance jobs are running as.

To do this go to Start -> Accessories -> System Tools -> Scheduled Tasks, right click on the TimeTrex entry, go to properties, then near the bottom change the "Run As" user to Administrator, and be sure to set the password as well.

Also it is important to ensure that the Scheduled Task is set to run every one (1) minute. If the task scheduler is not running the maintenance jobs every minute many of the jobs will be skipped and never run at all.

Once you have done that, TimeTrex should hopefully fix itself in the next 24hrs or less.

 

2. How do I setup Apache to use SSL with a self-signed certificate?

Run the following commands in a command prompt window to generate a self-signed SSL certificate:

cd c:\TimeTrex\apache2\bin
set OPENSSL_CONF=c:\timetrex\apache2\conf\openssl.cnf
openssl genrsa -passout pass:932a8b329 -des3 -out server.key 1024
set RANDFILE=c:\.rnd
openssl req -passin pass:932a8b329 -new -key server.key -out server.csr -subj /CN=TimeTrex
openssl rsa -passin pass:932a8b329 -in server.key -out server.key
openssl x509 -req -days 9125 -in server.csr -signkey server.key -out server.crt

Copy the certificate to the Apache config directory:

copy server.crt c:\timetrex\apache2\conf\
copy server.key c:\timetrex\apache2\conf\

Modify the Apache config to enable SSL:

Edit c:\TimeTrex\apache2\conf\httpd.conf and uncomment these two lines:

LoadModule ssl_module modules/mod_ssl.so
Include conf/extra/httpd-ssl.conf

Edit c:\TimeTrex\apache2\conf\extras\httpd-ssl.conf change the DocumentRoot line to:

DocumentRoot "C:/TimeTrex/timetrex"

Restart TimeTrex services for the changes to take affect and test to make sure its working by pointing your web browser to https://localhost/.

NOTE:  Because this is a self signed certificate your web browser will likely complain that it may not be valid, this is normal and you will need to add an exception in your web browser to prevent it from alerting you in the future.

 

Manual Install

3. What are the system requirements?

See system requirements at How to Install TimeTrex.

 

4. Why am I getting a permission error after installing TimeTrex on Windows?

If you are getting a permission error while installing TimeTrex on Windows, or License.php is coming up blank, try the following:

  1. Navigate to Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager
  2. Expand the tree to where the TimeTrex directory is located. Expand that directory as well.
  3. Locate the templates_c directory, right click it, and choose "Permissions."
  4. Locate the user: IIS_WPG. On the bottom dialog box (where allow and deny accesses are set), locate the Write permission, and check the "allow" box, do the same for Modify permissions as well. Also locate user: Internet Guest Account, and enable "write" and "modify" permissions using the same method.
  5. Press OK to exit that dialog box.
  6. Then highlight the "server" that appears on the left side of the Manager. Choose "action" from the menu, ALL Tasks, and then RESTART the IIS Server.

TimeTrex requires write permissions to its: timetrex/templates_c directory as well as other directories such as its caching and storage directories set in the timetrex.ini.php file.

 

PostgreSQL Database

5. How do I create a user and database for TimeTrex in PostgreSQL?

Locate your pg_hba.conf file, usually it is located at: /var/lib/pgsql/data/pg_hba.conf

Once located, edit it and confirm that the "local" line at the bottom has method "password".

# TYPE DATABASE USER CIDR-ADDRESS METHOD
# "local" is for Unix domain socket connections only
local all all password
# IPv4 local connections:
host all all 127.0.0.1/32 password
# IPv6 local connections:
host all all ::1/128 password

Restart PostgreSQL to make sure the changes take effect, then confirm that you are logged in as root and follow the below commands:

[root@timetrex ~]# su postgres
[postgres@timetrex root]$ createuser -P timetrex
Enter password for new role: <password>
Enter it again: <password>
Shall the new role be a superuser? (y/n) n
Shall the new role be allowed to create databases? (y/n) y
Shall the new role be allowed to create more new roles? (y/n) n
CREATE ROLE

 

[postgres@timetrex root]$ psql template1 timetrex
Welcome to psql 8.1.1, the PostgreSQL interactive terminal.

Type: \copyright for distribution terms
\h for help with SQL commands
\? for help with psql commands
\g or terminate with semicolon to execute query
\q to quit
template1=> create database timetrex;
CREATE DATABASE
template1=>\q
[postgres@timetrex root]$

You should now be ready to install TimeTrex with the "timetrex" user.

If you made a mistake, the easiest thing to do is drop the user and database and start over again. You can do that with these commands at the shell:

dropuser TimeTrex dropdb timetrex

 

Other

6. How do I upgrade TimeTrex while retaining all my data?

The upgrade procedure is the exact same as the procedure performed during the initial installation, simply download the latest version from our website and install it over top of your existing TimeTrex folder. The installer will automatically detect this situation and perform the upgrade for you while retaining all of your data. You can upgrade from any older version to any newer version in a single step without a problem and the entire upgrade process usually takes around 5-10 minutes.

 

7. How do I access TimeTrex On-Site from other computers?

TimeTrex is offered in two different deployment models, On-Site and Cloud-Hosted. Please click on either of the links for more information regarding the advantages and disadvantages of both models.

Here are the steps to access TimeTrex On-Site from other computers on your local network:

  1. Find the IP address of the computer that TimeTrex is installed on. In Windows this can be done by following these steps:
  2. Go to your “Start” button and select the “Run” option
  3. Type in: cmd /k ipconfig /all
  4. A command window will pop up and list your IP address, there may be several IP addresses in the list, normally your IP address will be similar to one of these: 192.168.1.100, or 10.0.0.100
Ethernet adapter Local Area Connection:

Connection-specific DNS Suffix . :

Description . . . . . . . . . . . : Realtek RTL8139 Family PCI

Physical Address. . . . . . : 00-A0-D1-B9-2A-08

Dhcp Enabled. . . . . . . .. . : No

IP Address. . . . . . . . . . . . : 192.168.1.100

Subnet Mask . . . . . . . .. . . : 255.255.255.0

Default Gateway . . . . .. . . : 192.168.1.1

DNS Servers . . . . . . . .. . . : 192.168.1.1, 192.168.1.2
  1. Once you have obtained the IP address of the computer in which TimeTrex is installed on, you can go to another computer on your local network, open a web browser and enter the following URL in the address bar:
http://<IP Address>:8085/

For example, if the IP address was 192.168.1.100, you would enter this URL:

http://192.168.1.100:8085/

If this doesn't work, it is likely that the IP address that you used was incorrect, your network isn't setup to allow such access or you have a firewall in place that is actively blocking the connection. In any case, because TimeTrex has no control over how your computer/network is setup or what firewalls/routers may be actively blocking connections, you will need to consult a IT professional or network administrator who has experience setting up network applications to help you.

If you are a small company and you don't have access to an IT professional with this type of experience, or just simply don't want the added responsibility of hosting TimeTrex yourself, we recommend considering our TimeTrex Cloud-Hosted service. No software installation is necessary, no network settings are required, activation is instant and its extremely affordable.

 

8. How do I migrate TimeTrex On-Site from one computer to another?
WARNING:  Migrating TimeTrex and all its data from one computer to another is an involved process and should only be done by an experienced IT professional or a TimeTrex Support representative.

On the source computer (the one that currently has TimeTrex installed on it):

  1. In the TimeTrex directory, execute backup_database.bat to dump the latest copy of your database to a .SQL file.
  2. Rename the newest timetrex_database_<DATE>.sql file to timetrex_database.sql.
  3. Copy timetrex_database.sql and timetrex.ini.php to a temporary directory on the destination computer, for example c:\temp


On the destination computer:

  1. Install a fresh copy of the latest version of TimeTrex, ensuring that the edition matches on both computers, however pause on the final step of the installation procedure where it asks you to launch the web browser to complete the installation.
  2. Go to your “Start” button and select the “Run” option, type in: cmd
  3. In the command prompt window, navigate to the TimeTrex directory: cd c:\timetrex
  4. Restore timetrex_database.sql to the new TimeTrex database with the following command: restore_database.bat c:\temp\timetrex_database.sql
  5. Edit c:\temp\timetrex.ini.php and copy the following lines to the new c:\timetrex\timetrex\timetrex.ini.php
    6. uuid_seed = [seed_#]
    primary_company_id = [company_id]
    salt = [salt_id]
  6. Copy the entire c:\timetrex\storage directory from the source computer to the same location on the destination computer.
  7. Go back to the TimeTrex installer and complete the installation process, which will be referred to by the installer as an upgrade from now on.
  8. Once the installation is complete, confirm that you can sign in to it with your existing username/password, then disable or uninstall TimeTrex from the source computer to prevent employees from accidentally accessing the wrong instance.