How to Do the Common Tasks of Installing and Running ABM Service
This page lists the tasks the site's IT person or technician does most often with ABM Service, grouped by what they are trying to do. Each task has a one-sentence answer, with where to do it, and the page that has the full steps.
How do I install the ABM Service desktop app on a PC?
Download the ABM Service Desktop machine setup from the ABM Service download page and run it once on each PC as an administrator; each Windows user's own copy then installs itself the first time they open ABM Service.
- To check a PC is ready, make sure it runs 64-bit Windows, has ABM (Advanced Business Manager) installed and working, can reach the internet over HTTPS, and that you can approve an administrator prompt. See What Does a PC Need Before Installing the ABM Service Desktop App?
- To download the desktop setup, open https://download.abm-portal.com/downloads/ and press Download the desktop setup on the ABM Service Desktop card under Current. See How to Download the ABM Service Desktop Setup
- To check the download is genuine, compare its fingerprint from PowerShell's Get-FileHash with the SHA-256 value on the download page's card. See How to Download the ABM Service Desktop Setup
- When Windows blocks the setup, press More info and then Run anyway, or use the command under Windows blocked the download? on the download page. See How to Download the ABM Service Desktop Setup
- To install on a PC, double-click ABMService-Machine-Setup-production.exe, press Install, approve the Windows prompt, and wait for ABM Service Desktop is installed on this computer. See How to Install the ABM Service Desktop App on a PC
- To install from a deployment tool, run the machine setup with
/quietfrom an administrator or system account; exit code 0 means installed. See How to Install the ABM Service Desktop App on a PC
How do I connect ABM's toolbar and each user to the ABM Service desktop app?
Point each ABM toolbar button at the matching ABM Service launcher, using the paths the machine setup copies for you, and let each user's first press install their own copy.
- To get the launcher paths, press Copy launcher paths on the finished page of the ABM Service Desktop machine setup, which copies all seven. See How to Set Up the ABM Toolbar Launchers
- To find which launcher a button needs, use ABMCall.exe for a call, ABMCustomer.exe for a customer, ABMScheduler.exe for the Scheduler, ABMHome.exe for Home, and ABMCallsManager.exe or ABMCustomersManager.exe for the lists. See How to Set Up the ABM Toolbar Launchers
- For people who do not use ABM's toolbar, have them open ABM Service Desktop from the Start menu, which shows the ABM Service sign-in window. See How to Set Up the ABM Toolbar Launchers
- To set up a terminal server or a shared PC, run the machine setup once as an administrator; every Windows user then gets their own copy on their first start. See What Does a PC Need Before Installing the ABM Service Desktop App?
How do I keep the ABM Service desktop app up to date?
Nothing has to be pushed: each user's copy of the ABM Service desktop app checks the update address, downloads a new version in the background and installs it when that user has no ABM Service window open.
- To let updates through, allow HTTPS from the PCs to
updates.abm-portal.com, the address the machine setup writes into FEED_URL.txt in the ABM Service Desktop program folder. See How Does the ABM Service Desktop App Update Itself? - To make a PC update now, close every ABM Service window and open ABM Service again, or choose Check for Updates… on the File menu of any ABM Service window. See How Does the ABM Service Desktop App Update Itself?
- To see which version and channel a PC runs, look at the caption bar of any ABM Service window, or choose About on its File menu; a dev mark means a development build. See What Are the Production and Development Channels?
- To refresh the launchers, the Start menu entry and the bundled copy, run a newer ABM Service Desktop machine setup over the old one; there is no need to uninstall first. See How to Install the ABM Service Desktop App on a PC
- When a PC is stuck on an old version, check it can reach the update address and that the same Windows user has no ABM Service windows open in another session. See Why Won't the ABM Service Desktop App Install, Start or Update?
How do I fix or remove the ABM Service desktop app?
Read the message the ABM Service desktop app shows, then the matching log, and work through the troubleshooting page; to remove it, uninstall each user's copy first and the machine half last.
- When the machine setup fails, read the one-sentence reason on its failed page and use Copy for support; the full record is in C:\ProgramData\ABM Service\Desktop\install.log. See Why Won't the ABM Service Desktop App Install, Start or Update?
- When the app says ABM is not installed on this computer, install or repair ABM on that PC and check it opens; when the message names ABMServer.log instead, check that ABM's control folder can be reached by that Windows user. See Why Won't the ABM Service Desktop App Install, Start or Update?
- When an ABM toolbar button says ABM Service isn't installed on this computer. (with "Service" in it, and Please ask your administrator to install it.), it is ABM Service that is missing, not ABM: run the ABM Service Desktop machine setup on that PC. See How to Set Up the ABM Toolbar Launchers
- When ABM's control database or the company database is unreachable, check ABM itself can sign in to that company on the same PC, then the SQL Server name and the firewall. See Why Won't the ABM Service Desktop App Install, Start or Update?
- To send logs to your software supplier, collect install.log from C:\ProgramData\ABM Service\Desktop and the user's install.log and desktop.log from %LocalAppData%\DP Systems\ABM Service. See Why Won't the ABM Service Desktop App Install, Start or Update?
- To uninstall, remove ABM Service Desktop from Apps & Features as each Windows user, then remove the machine half once as an administrator. See How to Uninstall the ABM Service Desktop App
- To switch off the desktop app's screen recording, set the DWORD value
Recordingto 0 under HKLM\SOFTWARE\DP Systems\ABM Service for the whole PC, or under HKCU for one person, then close ABM Service from its tray icon. See How to Turn Off the Desktop App's Screen Recording
How do I install ABM Service Server and add a company?
Run the ABM Service Server setup as an administrator, then open ABM Service Server Manager from the Start menu and press Add a company... for each ABM company database people should reach in a web browser.
- To check the server is ready, make sure it has 64-bit Windows, an administrator account, SQL Server logins for the company database and ABM's control database, and HTTPS access to the internet. See How to Install ABM Service Server
- To install the server, download ABMServiceServer-Setup-production.exe with Download the server setup, run it, press Install and approve the Windows prompt. See How to Install ABM Service Server
- To add a company, press Add a company... in ABM Service Server Manager, fill in and Test both database groups, check Name here, Port and Site name, and press Add. See How to Add a Company in the Server Manager
- To give people the web address, send them
http://, the server's name, a colon and the number shown after port on the company's line. See How the Web Address and the Databases Are Connected - To serve ABM Service over https with your own certificate, put a reverse proxy, gateway or tunnel in front of the company's address; ABM Service Server has no certificate setting of its own. See How the Web Address and the Databases Are Connected
- To set a server up from a script, run ABM.Service.Server.Manager.exe with
addand both connection strings from an elevated command prompt. See How to Script the Server Manager from the Command Line
How do I look after a company on ABM Service Server?
Everything for a company is under its line in ABM Service Server Manager: Start, Stop, Restart, Update now, Settings..., Open logs and Remove.
- To change the SQL Server password a company uses, open Settings..., fill in all four boxes of that database group with the new password, press Test, then Save. See How to Change a Company's Settings
- To move a company to another port, change Port in Settings... and press Save. To move it to another SQL Server or database, fill in all four boxes of that database group, SQL Server, Database, Login and Password, press Test, then Save; a blank Login and Password keep the saved connection whatever else you type. Saving restarts the company and signs everyone out. See How to Change a Company's Settings
- To stop, start or restart a company, press Stop, Start or Restart under it; a stop lasts only until its Windows service restarts or an update is applied. See Using the ABM Service Server Manager
- To read a company's logs, press Open logs under it, and use Save a copy... to send a whole file to your software supplier. See How to Read the ABM Service Server Logs
- To remove a company, press Remove under it and confirm with OK; its database is never touched. See How to Remove a Company or Uninstall ABM Service Server
- To uninstall ABM Service Server, remove every company, close the manager, then uninstall ABM Service Server from Apps & Features. See How to Remove a Company or Uninstall ABM Service Server
How do I update ABM Service Server?
The ABM web application updates itself every night at the apply time, and the server manager and service software update when you run a newer ABM Service Server setup.
- To change when updates are installed, press Apply at... at the foot of ABM Service Server Manager, choose the Hour and Minute in server time, and press Set. See How Updates Work on ABM Service Server
- To install a web application update straight away, press Update now under the company and confirm; it says first how many people are connected. See How Updates Work on ABM Service Server
- When a new version will not start, nothing needs doing: the company goes back to the version it had, and Open logs shows why. See How Updates Work on ABM Service Server
- To update the server manager and the service software, close the manager and run the newer ABM Service Server setup; every company is offline for about ten seconds. See How Updates Work on ABM Service Server
What do I do when ABM Service Server goes wrong?
Start with the company's line in ABM Service Server Manager and the line under it, then read the company's launcher log with Open logs.
- When the web address does not open, check the company shows Running, the address uses
http://and the right port, and every firewall between the computers allows the port. See What to Check When ABM Service Server Goes Wrong - When a company shows no version yet or never updates, check the server can reach the software supplier's update feed over HTTPS, then press Update now. See What to Check When ABM Service Server Goes Wrong
- When the database line is red, check the SQL Server is running and reachable and whether the login's password has changed. See What to Check When ABM Service Server Goes Wrong
- When nobody can sign in, read the sign-in page's message, then in Settings... fill in the control database group's SQL Server, Database, Login and Password and press Test; with Login and Password blank the test only says Nothing to test: the stored connection is being kept. See What to Check When ABM Service Server Goes Wrong
- When The database is being updated will not clear, read the sentence in that window. If it says the database could not be brought up to date, ask a database administrator to give the company database's login permission to create tables; if it says another process is bringing it up to date, wait for that to finish and press Try again. See What ABM Service Changes in the Company Database