When a majority of the workforce in present times uses Windows on their system, there is a growing section that uses Linux over other operating systems like Mac OS, Windows, etc. But, considering all practicality even such businesses need to use dedicated Windows machines to complete their mandatory office tasks.

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The QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Linux Database Server Manager allows you to host and save QuickBooks files on a particular Linux file server.

In today’s article, we will learn how to install QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise Database Manager on a particular Linux server. But before you learn about the installation process, first, you need to be well-versed with the pre-requirements.

Note: The Linux database manager is not supported by QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 23.0.

In this article:

What are the Components of a Linux Database Server Manager?

Here is the list of the components of a Linux Database Server Manager:

Qbmonitord daemon: Probes the directories in the particular qbmonitord.conf file to ensure that each one has a qbdir.dat file.
Qbdir.dat file: A network definition (ND) file is created by QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise for every QuickBooks company file accessing the qbdir.dat file.
Database Server files: Provides access to QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise users to learn from and write to QuickBooks company files stored on the Linux server.
Qbmonitord configuration file (qbmonitord.conf): Categorizes the directories dictated by the qbmonitord daemon.
ND File: Accessed by the QuickBooks Windows client to save the address and name of the QuickBooks host system.

What are the System Requirements for the Linux Database Manager?

Here are the software and hardware system requirements for the Linux database manager:

System Requirements

Hardware and Software	Recommended	Minimum
RAM	As many as possible	1 GB
File Sharing Software	Samba 2.2.12	Samba 2.2.12
Processor	2 GHz Intel Pentium 4	1.2 GHz Intel Pentium 3
Disk Space	2.5 GB and some extra space for the QuickBooks Company files	2.5 GB

Linux Database Server Manager is sustained on the 64-bit as well as 32-bit versions on the distributions given below:

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise version	Linux Distribution (Operating System – Server)
20.0	Fedora 29Red Hat Enterprise 7 (RHEL 7)OpenSuse Leap 15.0
21.0 and 22.0	Fedora 32Red Hat Enterprise 8 (RHEL 8)OpenSuse Leap 15.2

What are the Configuration Recommendations for Installing QuickBooks Database Server Manager on Linux Sever?

Here are the list of configuration recommendations for Linux Server:

User and Sharing Permissions: Set up certain shared directories that save QuickBooks company files like Samba shares. All the Samba share users should have complete access to shared directories.
Case-Sensitive File Names: Linus’s file system is highly case-sensitive. Just ensure QuickBooks company file names are original.
Host Name Resolution: Windows customers must be aware of the IP address or hostname of the Linux server. Just ensure that you set up the Domain Name server with Samba. In case you lack WINS or DNS, it is possible to list the particular Linux server in the given Windows HOSTS file.

To setup the Linux database manager you have to follow the steps as the root user:

What is the Antivirus and Firewall Compatibility to Install QuickBooks on Linux?

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise performs well with the settings modified in your antivirus or firewall. In case you have problems with the performance, connect with your respective software vendor for assistance. Also, you need to ensure that the right ports are open on both the Windows Client and Linux Server.

For QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 20.0, 22.0, and 21.0, ports 855343 or 8019 via 55347 should be used.

QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise 20.0, 21.0, and 22.0: Ports 8019 or 55343 through 55347

Note: If you are unable to access company files, check that Port 10172 is open on both the Linux server and the Windows client.

How to Install the Linux Database Server Manager on QuickBooks?

Here are the steps to install the particular Linux Database Server Manager:

First, you need to download the particular Linux Database Server Manager RPM package.
Now you need to turn into a Root user:
- Open a terminal screen
- Add a Sudo password. Now click Enter
- Now add the user password
Authenticate the reliability of the package with the help of the GPG public key.
- Download the particular Public Key on your given Linux server.
- Now open a terminal screen.
- Add rpm –import qbdbm-pubkey.asc. Now click Enter in order to include the public key to the particular keyring.
- Add rpm -K packagename. Now click Enter
- In case the command returns, GPG OK, proceed to step 4 or else remove the downloaded packages and perform steps 1 to 3.
In a terminal screen, add rpm -ivh package name. Now click Enter
Prepare a directory to save your particular QuickBooks company files.
Now copy the specific QuickBooks company files to the directory you have prepared.

How to Configure the Linux Database Server Manager?

To setup the Linux database manager you have to follow the steps as the root user:

Update the monitored.conf File

To give users access to your company files you will require to list the shared directories in the monitored.conf file.

You have to open a terminal window.
Then you have to edit the /opt/qb/util/qbmonitord.conf file.
On a separate line, you have to enter the full path of each directory.For Example:
- /QBData
- /QBcompanyfiles
Then restart the qbmonitord or qbdbfilemon service.

Important: The qbmonitord daemon does not automatically monitor subdirectories. The qbmonitord.conf file must list the subdirectories that house company files. Make that the qbmonitord.conf file lists any folders that house company files.

Create a Samba Share

Shared directories on your Linux server must be configured as Samba shares in order for Windows computers to access them. Read the Samba manual for your Linux distribution for additional details on setting up a Samba share.

To create a Samba share:

Become the root user:
- You have to open a terminal window
- Then enter the sudo password root and then you have to press Enter.
- Now enter your user password.
Create a user group:
- Press Enter after entering groupadd -r groupname. The name of the group you want to create is groupname (for instance, qbusers).
- To view a list of the users in the group you formed in step 2, enter groupname: user1, user2, user3.
Add users and passwords:
- To add each person from step 3 to the group you created in step 2, type useradd user.
- To activate the Samba user account and create a password for each user, type smbpasswd -a user.
Set share permissions:
- To grant users read, write, and execute permission to the shared directory, use chmod -R 775 /directory.
- To change the group ownership for the shared directory, use chgrp -R groupname /directory.
Go to/etc/samba and add the following lines to the smb.conf:
- [share_name]- With the name you want to use for the share replace share_name (this is the name that your Windows clients can see).
- path=/directory- To store the QuickBooks company files you can replace the directory with the full path of the directory that you created on your Linux server.
- comment = samba share for company files
- valid users = user1 user2 user3 – Replace the user with the usernames you listed in step 2.
- Public = no
- writable = yes
- printable = no
- create mask = 0765
To restart the Samba daemon you have to enter the service smb restart.

On the Linux server, QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise users can access company file from their Windows client.

Save Messages in the monitored.log

You have to download the PDF version of the Linux Database Server Manager Installation and Configuration Guide for more information

What are the Error Messages witnessed While Installing QuickBooks Database on Linux Server?

All the qbmonitord error log messages are considered as output to the particular /var/log/qbmonitord.log file.

Add tail -f /var/log/qbmonitord.log to check qbmonitord.log file the last 10 lines along with a new line as they are included.
Add tail -n 100 -f /var/log/qbmonitord.log to check if there are more than the last 10 lines.\

Linux Server Error Log Messages

Error Message	Description
An unforeseen error occurred	A comprehensive error message appears after this error.
Cannot open FAM connection	Ensure portmapper and FAM (via xinetd) are up and running.
Issue creating meta-file	The qbmonitord daemon failed to prepare the qbdir.dat file in your particular shared directory. Ensure the directory has the right and adequate permissions.
A parameter was mentioned with the qbmonitord instruction	Parameters are not used by the qbmonitord daemon.
The interject handler failed to be initialized	An issue came up during the initialization of the interrupt handler.
Config file failed to be read	The qbmonitord.conf file could not be located in the /opt/qbes7/util directory.
Zero directories found in the config file	The directories shared by you are lacking from the qbmonitord.conf file. Change the qbmonitord.conf file and then list every directory on a different line.

Windows Client Error Messages

Error Message	Description
An issue followed when QuickBooks attempted to use the company file. Please try once more. If the problem still exists, connect with Intuit Technical Support and state the following error code. (-6000, -82).	There’s an issue concerning the user permission setup. Ensure: The user has an authentic Samba user ID along with the password.The user is an authentic user registered in the smb.conf file along with the /etc/group file.
An issue followed when QuickBooks attempted to use the company file. Please try once more. If the problem still exists, connect with Intuit Technical Support and state the following error code. (-6000, -83).	The database manager lacks access and cannot use the company file. Ensure that the particular company file is in a directory registered in the qbmonitord.conf file. Then start the QuickBooks Desktop Enterprise application again on the particular Windows client.
You are attempting to function with a company file that is stored on another system, but that computer requires extra installation and setup.	The database server is not functioning on the Linux server. Ensure: The Linux server can view all the Windows clients. The database manager is working on the Linux server: (in a terminal screen, enter: ps -ef \| grep qbdbmgrn_31).The Windows clients can check the IP address or the hostname on the Linux server.

We hope that this article has helped you to understand the process and prerequisites to install QuickBooks Database Server Manager.

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