Pervasive.SQL 8 Pre-Requisites

Some sites have been having problems getting Pervasive.SQL V8 installed as quickly and easily as it should be.Most of the time, this stems from an incorrect network configuration, and the installation problems could likely have been avoided if the system was configured correctly before the installation started.

To make for a smoother installation, we recommend that you verify these items BEFORE installing Pervasive.SQL V8:

• Server Operating System: The Client/Server version of Pervasive.SQL V8 runs on Novell NetWare 4.2 and higher, Linux Kernel v2.4 and higher, and Windows NT 4 Service Pack 6a and higher, including Windows 2000 Server and Windows 2003 Server.It is possible for smaller sites to install and run the Client/Server engine (up to 10-user count) also on Windows 2000 Professional and Windows XP Professional.
• Server Operating System Patches: If you are installing onto Windows NT 4 computers, you should first verify that the server is running Service Pack 6a.You can do this by selecting Start/Run, then entering WINVER and clicking OK.The resulting dialog box should show Windows NT 4 Service Pack 6, and below it should indicate "Revised Service Pack 6a".If you do not see this, then you should first patch the Windows NT operating system.You can find these patches at support.microsoft.com, or via this link.
• Client Operating System: The Pervasive.SQL V8 WorkGroup Engine and client software (from the Client/Server Engine) run on Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT Workstation (and Server), Windows 2000 Professional, Windows XP Professional, and Windows 2003 Server. Note that running on Windows 95 is NOT supported.If you have any workstations with Windows 95, you MUST upgrade them before you can install Pervasive.SQL V8, or you must use the older (and soon-to-be-unsupported) Pervasive.SQL 2000i.
• Client Operating System Patches: If you are running on Windows NT 4 clients, you should also have SP6a applied.See link above on Server Operating System Patches for details.
• Network Protocol: The Pervasive.SQL V8 database can use either the TCP (preferred) or the SPX networking protocol for database communications to a Client/Server Engine. Workgroup Engines can use TCP, SPX, or NetBIOS (slowest) for communications. Whatever protocol is selected, it must be properly configured on every machine to provide usable communications. Please note that while NetBIOS is the easiest to set up, it is also the very slowest method of communications.TCP (the protocol used by the Internet) is the fastest and next easiest to set up.SPX can be used in certain cases, but the default Microsoft configuration for SPX often is incorrect, causing lots of problems.We recommend using TCP whenever possible.
• PING By Name: Pervasive.SQL V8 uses TCP/IP to get the best possible network performance.For this to work, you MUST be able to PING the server by name.To test this, go to Start/Run and enter COMMAND and hit <ENTER>.From the resulting DOS (black) screen, enter the command "PING SERVERNAME", but provide the name of your own server for this command. If you get a screen back that looks like the following (for the server DEATHSTAR), then you should be OK.
  
  C:\WINNT>ping DEATHSTAR
  Pinging DEATHSTAR [192.168.1.11] with 32 bytes of data:
  
  Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128
  Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128
  Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128
  Reply from 192.168.1.11: bytes=32 time<10ms TTL=128
  
  Ping statistics for 192.168.1.11:
  Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
  Approximate round trip times in milliseconds:
  Minimum = 0ms, Maximum =0ms, Average =0ms
  

  If you do not get these results, then you have a networking problem!If you are not technical, but have an outside firm taking care of your network for you, then have them come in and resolve the problem first.Let them know that the requirement is "PING BY NAME", and they should be able to work out any issues.The rest of this item is for the technical people that need to work it out themselves.

  If you get a response back "Unknown host SERVERNAME" (and you specified the correct server name in the command), then you do not have the ability to resolve the server's name, and Pervasive.SQL V8 will NOT work over TCP.Edit your DNS database or HOSTS file to enable this to work correctly. Note that the HOSTS files is C:\WINDOWS\HOSTS. (no extension) on WIndows 98/Me, and C:\WINNT\SYSTEM32\DRIVERS\ETC\HOSTS. on Windows NT/2000, and C:\WINDOWS\SYSTEM32\DRIVER\ETC\HOSTS. on Windows XP (thank you, Microsoft, for making this easy).If you create a file with a TXT extension (which may be invisible, depending on your Windows settings, this will NOT work.For this reason, we recommend using the DOS EDIT command to create and maintain the file, and NOT the Windows NotePad utility. The HOSTS file should contain lines like this:
  
  192.168.1.11DEATHSTAR
  
  192.168.1.12FALCON
  
  192.168.1.22XWING
  
  Of course, you'll use your own addresses and computer names here.

  If you get a response of"Pinging SERVERNAME [192.168.1.11] with 32 bytes of data" and you get a series of "Request timed out" messages, then you are having a communications problem. First, verify that the network cabling is OK.If so, then verify that the returned IP address (in this example, the 192.168.1.11) is also correct.You can check this by running the command "IP CONFIG" from the server's DOS prompt, and then determining which IP address is assigned to the server. Fixing this can be a bit more complicated, but a HOSTS file will almost always fix the problem.Of course, an incorrect HOSTS file can cause this problem, too.

If you have additional questions about the pre-requisites, please contact us!