Database Tool Released
We are pleased to announce the public availability of Database Admin Tool. This tool allows administrators to host Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2007 database on a computer on which Microsoft Office 2007 and Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2007 are not installed. Once installed on a server, this tool will allow user to:
- Create and backup Business Contact Manager 2007 databases. To create a database, user must be the local administrator.
- Restore databases from Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2007, Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2003 and Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2003 (Update).
- Share Business Contact Manager databases to other users on a local network.
It will ensure that necessary firewall ports are opened, that users are granted permission to the database, and that the SQL instance is configured to allow external connections. These operations will require the user be a local administrator.
Supported Operating Systems
- Windows Server 2003 Service Pack 1
- Windows Small Business Server 2003
- Windows Vista
- Windows XP Service Pack 2
Prerequisites
- Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0
- Microsoft SQL Express 2005 SP2 (32-bit only) or Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP2 (32-bit only)
Notes
- This tool does not support SQL instances with case sensitive collation.
- This tool cannot open the required ports for more than two SQL Server instances.
- It is compatible with only English version of Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2007.
We hope that your find this tool useful.
-Mukesh
Comments
Anonymous
March 30, 2007
Oh thank you thank you thank you!! I've been waiting for this tool ever since BC 2007 was released.Thank you!!!Anonymous
March 30, 2007
Cheers Mukesh and the BCM Team.Lui :)Anonymous
April 02, 2007
Will this import all of the information from a BCM 2003 database? I'm specifically looking to import histories.Anonymous
April 03, 2007
Hi,Great news. Just what we need. Actually this client is based in Europe. I read that localized versions are not compatible. Does this mean that the database setup is completely incompatible, or that it won't run on a localized OS?ThanxAnonymous
April 04, 2007
Many thanks for the tool, Can this tool be used to install the database on SQL 2000 server? You've mentioned above that it requires SQL 2005. Any work arounds to install it on SQL 2000?ThanksAnonymous
April 04, 2007
Here are answers to some questions asked above. BCM 2007 requires SQL 2005. So, not it is not supported on SQL 2000.OS language is not important. It is supported only for English BCM and SQL Express.You can backup database from BCM 2003 and restore using this tool.Anonymous
April 04, 2007
BCM 2003 with SP4 can able to use the database created by this tool?Anonymous
April 04, 2007
Great news, but is there any way to make the admin tool compatible with the german version of bcm? is it possible to install an english version of bcm with the german version of outlook 2007 on the clients?ThanxAnonymous
April 11, 2007
How can I create a bcm database on a nas device from my vista station? Thanks in advance.Anonymous
April 11, 2007
I am using Outlook 2007 with BCM and want to share the database over a hosted exchange server. Neither ASP-One nor Microsoft support knows if or how to get it set up. How do I go about doing this?Anonymous
April 11, 2007
Note that BCM database is stored in SQL Server database. This is totally seperate from Exchange data store so you can't use Exchange (hosted or on-premise) server to share BCM database. BCM database is shared by directly connecting to SQL Server from BCM client. You will need to be part of LAN environment. If you are not connected to LAN, you can take an offline copy of BCM database that will sync back to main server when connected to SQL server.Anonymous
April 11, 2007
mus123, BCM database is a SQL database so you don't get lot of flexibility in chosing your own location to store data. SQL gets configured during setup to create DB under C:Document and SettingUser...Application DataBusiness Contact Manager folder.It's technically possible to move SQL database files (.mdf,.ldf) to another location but it would require knowledge of SQL commands to attach and detach the data files. Moreover, it is not recommended.Anonymous
April 19, 2007
I want my BCM (Sql Server 2005) database to be on its own server accessible only via the IP, making it a remote databse. Since we have employees not on the LAN (some will be on a LAN), we want them to be able to talk to the BCM database remotely just as if they were on the LAN.Since you mention this is not possible, since your products only allow for LAN connections, can you please describe in more detail the part about how we synch back to the main server? Such that both LAN and non-LAN users see the same data?How is that possible for employees that will never be part of the LAN, but will be updating / reading the BCM?Anonymous
April 19, 2007
strmysrf, the sync back scenario is more for people who want to travel with an offline DB on their laptop. They can update data on the offline database during traveling, and once they return to the office, they can connect the laptop to LAN and sync data between the offline DB and the shared database.Now back to your question about employees who will never be part of the LAN. It depends on the network between their client machine and the server machine that hosts the shared database. If the network between two allows SQL connection using TCP protocol and sending and receiving SQL queries/results in timely fashion, then it may work.There are some workarounds if the network does not work, such as import/export bcm files. Thanks.Anonymous
April 22, 2007
Are there client connection limits to consider when comparing BCM in Shared Database configuration on each of SQL 2005 Workgroup and SQL 2005 Express Editions?i.e.: is the SQL 2005 Express hosted BCM database any less functional or is it connection limited as compared to a BCM database hosted on a SQL 2005 Workgroup system?Anonymous
April 23, 2007
There is no limit on the number of user connections to the database hosted on SQL 2005 express. With regard to BCM functionality and connection, BCM database should behave very similarly on both SQL Express and SQL Workgroup.There are differences in performance and DB size between SQL Express and SQL Workgroup. Detailed information can be found at http://www.microsoft.com/sql/prodinfo/features/compare-features.mspx. The DB size limit will apply to shared DB hosted on SQL Workgroup too, if the client wants to go offline (offline DB is hosted in SQL Express, therefore still restricted by DB size limit).Anonymous
April 24, 2007
Thanks! I'd like to email the BCM team. Can you publish a contact form on your blog?Anonymous
May 01, 2007
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May 01, 2007
Karl, can you verify that "Bunkerhill" is a 32bits sql server instance? Database tool only supports 32 bits sql server instances and won't show 64 bits instances in the dropdown list. Also it might help to check if Bunkerhill is an instance, not an alias, running on the the same machine as the database tool. Database tool won't find sql instances on remote machines, nor will it show any connection aliases. (This can be checked in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 > Configuration tools -> SQL Server configuration manager.)For db creation error, you may want to check if your current user is an administrator and has sql dbcreator permission. Thanks.Anonymous
May 03, 2007
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May 03, 2007
Karl, the default sql instance name is MSSQLSERVER. http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143531.aspx Connecting to the default instance is a special case (using server computer name rather than specifying instance' name), this might be the reason why MSSQLSERVER never shows up in other tools/command when connecting to the instance. Database tool, on the other hand, will detect and show the instance name correctly. Hope this helps.Anonymous
May 07, 2007
I ran the tool using the MSSQLSERVER selected in the dropdown.This is what's being logged in the Application Log :Source : MSSQLSERVERType : Failure AudEvent Id : 18456User : BUNKERHILLWilliamPrescottComputer : BUNKERHILLDescription :Login failed for user 'BUNKERHILLWilliamPrescott'. [CLIENT: <local machine>]WilliamPrescott is the local administrator on Bunkerhill. This account is a member of the BUILTINAdministrators group.I also, just to be sure, added a Windows login for BUNKERHILLWilliamPrescott. This login is a sysadmin.WilliamPrescott is actually the Administrator account renamed.I can admin any database on the server and can create new databases in SSMS.KarlAnonymous
May 07, 2007
Sorry to not mention that I still can't install the Outlook BCM databases using the tool.KarlAnonymous
May 09, 2007
Can anyone from the Team assist me with getting the BCM database installed?I'm following the directions to the letter and meet the system requirements.Thank you,KarlAnonymous
May 09, 2007
Karl,Please send mail to bcmteam at microsoft.com with details of the problem and we will try to assist you. Also, feel free to contact our full-time support staff at any time using the URL below:http://support.microsoft.com/common/international.aspx?rdpath=1&gprid=11335Anonymous
May 09, 2007
Karl, this login error is coming from sql server. You might want to try connecting through sql command as this user account, and see if you can login.(sqlcmd -S serverName) If login also fails through sqlcmd, there have been discussions on sql blog on how to trouble shoot the login errors. http://blogs.msdn.com/sql_protocols/archive/2006/02/21/536201.aspxAnonymous
June 05, 2007
I currently have a Vista Client running OL 2007 with BCM. We have a SBS 2003 Premium (not an R2) server. From what I gather because this server has SQL 2000 installed I am out of luck in having the server host the BCM db. Are there any work arounds for this? Or is that it?Anonymous
June 11, 2007
Can BCM 2003 with SP4 be able to use the database created by this tool?Anonymous
June 11, 2007
Jason, you can install SQL Server 2005 Express from here: http://msdn.microsoft.com/vstudio/express/sql/ and use it side by side with existing sql services on your computer. The DB tool will recognize the 2005 sql instance and help you host DB on it. Paiz310, this tool is only for BCM 2007, BCM 2003 cannot use DB created by the tool.Anonymous
June 13, 2007
I need help with BCM 2003, I get an alert when I install Outlook 2003 on our server, which is also our mail server. Is it safe to setup our BCM database on our server??Anonymous
June 18, 2007
Paiz, This is more of an Outlook question. It's is usually not recommended to install Outlook on a machine that hosts your mail server.Anonymous
July 17, 2007
May I ask your help in this topic? I used the admin tool to create the database on our SBS2003SP1 server but when I try to connect from an XP client is says there is no BCM database on this server. I tried to use Sqlcmd –S and received an answer like >1 - I suppose this means the server is listening on port 5356. What could be the problem?Our SBS server is standard so there is no ISA only RRAS. I tried several reinstalls of SQL Express and Admin tool with different options but nothing helped. ALLIP is listening on 5356 according to the SQL manager. Is it possible that the problem is with the different languages (on the XP client it is Hungarian, but the admin tool is certainly English)?Sorry for the long post but wanted to give summary o the situation. Thanks a lot in advance!Anonymous
July 23, 2007
I found the answer to my question... :("It is compatible with only English version of Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2007."I was not attentive enough to disregard this note, however, I think it would be REALLY nice from Microsoft to mention this with the download as well... I was able to find this note only on your site.Anyway, thanks for posting this.Anonymous
July 25, 2007
This is for anyone that gets the same error as karl1406 - whereby a user with obvious login access to the DB server apparently fails to login.After doing a profile on the DB it turned out to be because the initial DB creation fails due to a file permissions problem on the following (or similar) folder:C:Documents and SettingsuserLocal SettingsApplication DataMicrosoftBusiness Contact Manager.The SQL Server Service account must be given write permissions to this folder in order to create the MDF files.As soon as I did this, I was able to create the database using this tool.Anonymous
July 27, 2007
Lord Zoltan,You are the man. This fixed my install problem instantly.Microsoft. I don't want to speak out of turn, by why is the data base burried in this folder?Why not just put the database in the default database location so that we don't have to detach and reattach the database? This feature of sql server has been around for a long time.Any rate, got it up and running!Cheers,KarlAnonymous
August 06, 2007
I installed Outlook BCM 2007 on a Windows 2003 file server. It installed the database in the administrator's profile on the c: drive. It's been working fine. But that c: drive is going to run out of disk space soon, and I want to move the BCM database to another hard disk in that server. How can I safely move the BCM database? I do not know SQL commands.Anonymous
August 13, 2007
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August 13, 2007
Lon, can you check if you have other SQL instances that have the same TCP port number enabled as the one you are sharing?For instance, if you are sharing out a DB on "instance1", you can go to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 -> Configuration Tools -> SQL Server configuration manager, check for instance1: TCP/IP protocol -> IP addresses -> IPAll -> TCP Port number. And see if the port number here is in conflict with any other instances on the same machine. If so, you may need to change one instance's TCP port to make sharing work. Thanks.Anonymous
August 14, 2007
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December 03, 2007
I had the same problem as karl1406 which was solved by LordZoltan's suggestion.I have two additional questions though.1 - does this mean that i will have to manually add user permissions to this folder every time i add another user to the system2 - is there any way to move this database to a different drive/location like d:/databases/bcm/Anonymous
February 11, 2008
thanks for this tool. I used it before I saw and read the whitpeper you had to so this and I installed SQL express with the default instance. So I am going to install again with a new instance. I was vurious though why it isn't recomanded to move the databases. I am on sbs server 2003 and have a data partition setup were I would like to keep my data. Including databases. Since the os partition has limited apace. I was just wondering if the only reason is because people might not know how to do the move or does it make the tool not work properlly later to share the database and add users to it and such?Anonymous
February 13, 2008
Hi There BCM Team,I've installed and configured the BCM in SQL Server and things are running fine, but....I couple of machines connecting to it are running XP SP2 and keep dropping the connection to the DB. The Vista machines are fine?Any Clues?Anonymous
February 26, 2008
Hi rooser,Can you please be more specific when you say dropping connections? I mean, the exact repro steps, error messages etc...-SateeshAnonymous
February 28, 2008
Hi, i have created a database in business contact manager which is currently been used by five other employees. I was trying to move that database to myserver. Well I finally found Business contact manager 2007 database tool. I am trying to run it on the server but it is giving me a following error:"Cannot retrieve the list of SQL Server instances. Please make sure that SQL Server 2005 or SQL 2005 Express is installed and that the service is running."I have SQL 2005 installed on my computer and I dont have any idea how to resolve this issue. It would be great if someone could help me. I dont have outlook installed on my server. But my main goal is to move the BCM database to my server. If there is any other suggestion to resolve this issue please let me know. Thank you.Anonymous
April 06, 2008
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April 06, 2008
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April 15, 2008
Dear BCM TeamI have installed the tool on a SQL Server and created a new database.I would like to restore a Danish BCM database on the server. But the Admin Tool gives an error message that the Danish database is not compatible with the English (US) version of the tool.As I see it there is no Danish version of the Admin Tool. What can I do to get Danish databases restored on SQL servers without installing Outlook with BCM on the servers ?Anonymous
April 29, 2008
Hi, I have some clients with OL2003 and others with OL2007, both with BCM 2003 update and BCM 2007 respectively.How share same BCM database on SQL Server 2005 for all clients?Thx.Anonymous
April 29, 2008
Hi RagysWe only support sharing between same versions of BCM clients i.e. BCM 2003 can only be shared between clients with BCM 2003 . Same with BCM 2007.ThanksVinit [MSFT]Anonymous
May 05, 2008
Not sure where else to post this:We used this to put our BCM on a server a long while back, and recently had a server crash that forced a rebuild of the server. I have a backup of the database, but I found it's a bit old (a couple weeks). I also have a machine with an offline copy of the database that has all of the recent data in it, but my attempts to restore from that have been unsuccessful.What's my best bet for getting this up and running with the most recent data? It seems that I can perform a backup/restore of the offline database using Management Studio Express, but then the Tool no longer recognizes it and no one can connect to it (although it is accessible from the Management Studio Express).Thanks!Anonymous
May 08, 2008
I have used this tool to deploy a customer's BCM data and for some reason the database has just disappeared from the server. I'm the only one with administrative rights, so no one could have messed with it. I got it up and running, it ran for several days, then the database just vanished and the outlook clients can't go back online. Any idea what I should be looking for to get it back?Anonymous
May 13, 2008
Hello?!? How do I get support for the Database Tool if not here?Anonymous
May 14, 2008
Captbackfire, Can you explain some more about how the database disappeared and how you got it back running? Did you reattach the database? Thanks.Anonymous
May 29, 2008
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May 29, 2008
HiYou can do that by assigning the “backup db” task to the other user. The other user will become the permanent owner of the task and have the prompt show up in his/her own outlook client. This setting is in outlook and not in Business Contact Manager.Let me know if this helps.ThanksVinit [MSFT]Anonymous
June 02, 2008
The "Notes" for the Admin tool says that "It is compatible with only English version of Business Contact Manager for Outlook 2007."So how do I deploy a shared BCM database for non-English clients on a server? The server is a 2003 SBS that serves as an AD/DC and also hosts the Exchange. Are there other ways - such as installing Outlook with BCM on the server?Anonymous
July 21, 2008
I solved the problem. Somehow, the SQL service forgot where the actual files were and so I couldn't connect until I reminded it. Thanks.Anonymous
August 25, 2008
I've succesfully installed the database on a SBS server and can access it from my client computer with SQL Server Mgmt Studio Express. However, from the BCM I don't have access to the database; it doesn't show up as an instance when I browse for it (browser services is running on the server) nor when I explicitly type the instance name with the correct TCP/IP port#. I suspect the reason is that I have a non-english BCM client. Could you please confirm this before I go about uninstalling and reinstalling Office to the English version on the client's machine (a non-trivial task if I understand the forums correctly)?Anonymous
August 25, 2008
Hi jvtBoth your Server and Client BCM language needs to be same for them to communicate.ThanksVinit[MSFT]Anonymous
August 28, 2008
Thanks for your prompt response. One more double-check: the OS languange on the client can be non-english, right?Anonymous
August 29, 2008
Yes, your system locale can be any language.ThanksVinit[MSFT]Anonymous
September 03, 2008
I've put over 40 hours into trying to make this thing work, with no success at all. No matter what I do I get the following (seems to be common)error:"Cannot retrieve the list of SQL Server instances. Please make sure that SQL Server 2005 or SQL 2005 Express is installed and that the service is running."The database server is running and I can manually create a database. I have given Everyone (as a last resort) full rights to the BCM directory in the user profile directory. I've tried running the database services as every user under the sun, I've tried running the Admin tools as different users and allowed it to run unrestriced. No luck at all.I've un-installed, re-installed the SQL server Express a thousand times, nothing seems to make any difference at all. The server is running Windows 2003 Standard w/ SP 2 and has ALL of the Windows updates installed.I can't seem to find any log that will tell me what is going wrong, the SQLERROR log has no errors, nor do the event logs. I can see the database showing up for a brief second if I watch the BCM directory in the user profile directory, but then it rolls back and goes away.Any suggestions?Anonymous
September 03, 2008
Sorry, wrong error listed in above post - it should be:Cannot create a new database. The operation has been rolled back. Please makesure the database service is running.Anonymous
September 18, 2008
I find it incredibly short-sighted of Microsoft to offer a tool that only works with the English version. Please stop selling your products in other languages if you do not plan to support them properly.Anonymous
September 22, 2008
same error: "Cannot create a new datbase. the operation has been rolled bad. please make sure the database service is runing." I have enabled Named Pipes It could be something about permissions, as karl1406 had. The service "SQL Server" is started by NETWORK SERVICE, so I give permissions to that user in the folder c:/documents......../MicrosoftBusiness Contact Manager, but the same error any idea? nothing at the event viewer :-(Anonymous
September 23, 2008
Hi Could you please tell me the BCM version that you are using? Could you also post the error logs created under SQL Server installation folder? Thanks Vinit [MSFT]Anonymous
September 28, 2008
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October 01, 2008
So am I holding my breath here for something that won't come? Should we switch to another platform?Anonymous
October 01, 2008
Hi Have you tried running the tool explicitly "as administrator" if this is on vista? Thanks Vinit [MSFT]Anonymous
October 01, 2008
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October 01, 2008
I tried it anyway, for good measure, same error.Anonymous
October 02, 2008
I was getting that same error and figured out what the problem was. Going into Computer Management -> Services -> SQL Server Configuration Management -> SQL Server 2005 Right Click on the SQL SErver service and select Properties. Click on the "Log On As" tab. Select "This Account" and set the account name to be a local administrator account or domain administrator account. (Mine was originally set to a domain user account which is the optimum account to use for the sql server service for security purposes, you can change it back to this after installing the database). Enter the password for the account and click apply. The SQL Server service will need to be restarted with the new settings so be sure that one one is connected to your sql server instance at the time. Once it restarts click "ok" and exit. Now you should be able to install the BCM database by using the tool. After the install process i shared the database using the tool and testing connecting to the database from my local machine succesfully. At the end of the sharing process a webpage is presented giving you instructions on how to connect to the database remotely. Save/Print these instructions for future reference. After you have succesffuly created and shared the database you can go back to the SQL Server service and change the account to log in as back to the domain user or whatever you had it set to before. I was still able to connect to the database through outlook locally after changing it back. Though make sure no one is connected to the database when you change the user login account because remember, the service must restart. I hope this works/helps some of you. The tool works really well once you get it. Additionally, you can now open up your SQL Database Management Studio and the MSSMALLBUSINESS database is attached and you can dig through the tables and whatever else you want to do.Anonymous
October 02, 2008
yani1shu: You're an absolute genius. After a couple weeks of ripping my hair out, and a fresh install (tonight) of Server 2003 I still got the same error. I came back to check, just in case, there was something from the BCM Team, but instead I saw your reply and had the database created within minutes. Thank you so very much!Anonymous
October 02, 2008
yani1shu: As a side note, do you know if it's necessary for me to login to the workstation I'm installing BCM on as the user is "Logged In As" when running the Database Tool? As long as I've shared the database with the person logged into the workstation at the time of BCM's installation, shouldn't it work? Thanks Again!Anonymous
April 27, 2009
Anybody have detailed instructions (or pointers) on how to go about moving a SQL 2005 stand-alone copy of my BCM data to a new fresh install of SBS 2008 and SQL 2008? Thanks, KenAnonymous
November 17, 2009
"Cannot create a new database. The operation has been rolled back. Please make sure the database service is running" We had to add the SQL service we were using ot the Domain Admins group to complete the initial install. Removed form Domain Admins after completed. Likely due to SQL running on a Domain Controller ;-)Anonymous
February 10, 2010
I've been struggling and searching for almost a week now to get our Shared Version of BCM 2003 exported to a format that works for BCM 2007. I have SQL Server 2005 Standard running on a Windows 2003 server and our regular database works fine out of it. My problem is with the BCM 2003 data which is on its on machine running Windows XP Professional. The majority of our staff are still using Outlook 2003 and BCM 2003. However, new machines we received had Office 2007 Enterprise Edition installed on them and two people are now in Outlook 2007 and BCM 2007. I tried to use the tool to backup the data from BCM 2003 but it doesn't work, I get, "Cannot retrieve the list of SQL Server instances. Please make sure that ..." I have both SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 running on this machine. I have changed the port from 1433 to 5356. Stopped and restarted the service. I still cannot get the tool to work properly.Anonymous
February 11, 2010
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February 11, 2010
There are more than 20,000 contacts in this shared database and about 30 minutes into the export, it locks up. I have tried it from several different machines with the same result. According to the tool info, you can backup the BCM2003 with it then restore it to a BCM2007. At least that was how I understood it would work but running the tool on the same machine as the shared BCM2003, it only finds the one created in SQL2005 not the BCM2003 database.Anonymous
February 11, 2010
Based on the following post by bcmteam in April 2007:
Here are answers to some questions asked above. 1. BCM 2007 requires SQL 2005. So, not it is not supported on SQL 2000. 2. OS language is not important. It is supported only for English BCM and SQL Express. 3. You can backup database from BCM 2003 and restore using this tool.
I want to do #3 with this tool yet it won't allow me to find the instance of BCM2003 on the server. Per my earlier post, I have SQL Server 2005 and 2000 running on this machine and still get the following error message: "Cannot retrieve the list of SQL Server instances. Please make sure that ..."
- Anonymous
February 11, 2010
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February 11, 2010
The comment has been removed - Anonymous
June 27, 2010
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