How to set up two or more computers sharing LetSys data over a LAN.

If you have a multi-user license then you can safely process data from two or more computers at the same time. However, you will need to decide where you are going to keep your "master" set of data, or root folder. All the data LetSys uses (including most configuration settings) is stored in a folder called the root folder. When you first install LetSys the root folder is placed by default onto your C Drive as C:\LetSys\. Your first task is to decide on which machine and in which location you are going to store your data. In these notes, I will call that computer the "master". Once you have done that, the task that many find difficult is making the root folder available to other machines, using Windows sharing and security features. Here's what you do. The examples use Windows 10, but Windows 7 and 8 are very similar.

Note that all the machines you plan to use should have the same version of LetSys installed; preferably the latest version available from our Download page. It's not a bad idea, although not essential, to ensure that you have first set your main configuration options from the "Master" PC.

You can even put your LetSys folder on a separate windows server, which doesn't run LetSys at all. However, we don't recommend that as that means that every single update involves a networked read and write. Windows Networking is not that robust, we've found. Very, very occasionally a network error occurs and that can result in data loss. What we do recommend is that you put the root folder on the machine that does most of the work, which reduces the chances of error. Don't forget to regularly backup.

Figure 1

Step 1: Decide where you are going to put the root folder.
In these examples, we show it as being the default C:\LetSys\.

Step 2: Share the root folder.

• From File Explorer (or Windows explorer on older versions than 10) right click the LetSys folder and select properties - see figure 1.
• From properties, click the Sharing tab. Then click Advanced sharing
• Click Share this folder and give the folder a sharename - LetSys would normally be the obvious choice for this.
• Still in advanced sharing, click Permissions and (assuming your network is secure) click the Everyone Group.
• Set the permissions for Everyone to Full control - see figure 2.
• Click OK, then OK from Advanced sharing, returning to the folder properties.

Figure 2

Step 3: Set the security for your share.

• From the folder properties, select the Security tab.
• You need to make sure that Authenticated users have modify permissions as a minimum.

Figure 3

Step 4: Test if the folder has been successfully shared.

Figure 4

• On (one of ) the machine(s) which needs to access the LetSys data open File Explorer and open the Network folder at the bottom of the folder bar.
• You should be able to see the computer containing the LetSys share. If you can't you haven't set sharing and/or security correctly.
• Click this and you will see a box asking for credentials. See Figure 4. Tick the box
• From this machine try to create a file in the LetSys folder using notepad (or word) or indeed any application. Ensure you can write to the folder, and also update a file that was written by a different user. If so, all is working correctly and you can delete the temporary file used to test.
• Repeat for other computers as necessary.

Step 5: Finally, point LetSys on the other machines to the shared folder

• On one of the machines which needs to access the LetSys folder first ensure LetSys is installed.
• Next, open the configuration program and from the data tab, click the browse button. Look for the network and the master machine, and within it the shared folder.
• Select this folder and click OK.

You should now be able to run LetSys and use the shared data in the shared folder.

Notes

You may still need to configure other features of LetSys - for example if you are using LetSys to synchronise with a web site.

There are plenty of websites that describe sharing and security in detail. You can google for this or try one of the following examples: http://www.geeksquad.co.uk/articles/how-to-set-up-file-sharing-on-windows-10
http://www.trustedreviews.com/how-tos/how-to-share-a-folder-or-hard-drive-on-your-home-network

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Holiday Letting System (LetSys)
© Brendan Blake.
See HELP / CONTENTS for full documentation.

Last updated 31 March 2017