MoneyWorks

This article describes how to set up a MoneyWorks Datacentre server to make it available to clients connecting over the internet.

Requirements

Most office networks are connected to the internet via a VDSL or fibre router.

You will need:

1. Administrative access to your office router's settings to configure port-forwarding. If you do not have administrative access, you will need to talk to your internet provider about configuring the router for you
2. A static IPv4 address for your internet connection (talk to your ISP about this), or if that is not available, you will need a globally-routable dynamic IPv4 with Dynamic DNS set up on your router (Note that some ISPs are now providing connections with Carrier-Grade Network Address Translation (CGNAT) — these cannot be used on the server end — if you have a CGNAT IP, you will need to ask your ISP for a real IPv4 address, even if dynamic)
3. You will need to know the local LAN IP address of the computer that MoneyWorks Datacentre is running on

Setup

You will need to configure your office internet router to forward the following ports to the LAN IP address of the server running MoneyWorks Datacentre:

Port       Purpose
6699       The MoneyWorks Datacentre service port
6700       The MoneyWorks Datacentre software update http service
6674..6698 Data Ports. One port for each data file that is active
6710       REST API port

Forwarding the port range 6674-6710 to the server computer is generally the easiest setup.

This is done by logging into the administration UI of the router and configuring port forwarding (it may be termed "NAT Settings" (Network Address Translation), or "Permit Access", or similar). Every router brand is different so you will need someone familiar with your particular router to do this. It is possible that your internet provider can push the necessary settings to your router remotely.

Security

Make sure that password protection is turned on for any accounts document in the server!

It is recommended that the server be configured to use SSL/TLS encryption.

Connecting

To connect to the office server from outside the office, use the Manual Using IP Address connection method in the connection dialog.

1. Type the IP address or domain name for the external static IP address of the office internet connection
2. Enter 6699 for the Port
3. If the Datacentre is configured to use SSL, then trn on the SSL checkbox
4. If the server is configured to use folder logins (ASP mode) then type the folder name and password (or "root" and the root folder password). Otherwise leave the user name and password blank
5. Click Log In
6. You should see a list of the accounts documents being shared by the server. Select the document and type your user name and password for that document and click Log In

Inside the office network you can continue to connect the same way as before (using the internal LAN IP of the server or the Local Network Browser). Some routers may work with the external Internet IP as well (e.g. Fritz!Box which provides hairpin NAT by default), but most won't.

Performance

If you wish to run custom reports, be sure to turn on the Run on Server option in the Report Prefs of the report (on the client). This option is set for all standard reports supplied with MoneyWorks (as of v7), but will likely not be turned on for custom reports that were written prior to v7.1.4.

MoneyWorks Now™

Alternatively, we can host your accounts on one of our MoneyWorks Now cloud servers.