QuickBooks from Intuit is amazing when it works. It can be a nightmare when it doesn’t work. Network problems, firewall problems, corrupted files, and many other issues can impede your QuickBooks installation. It is not uncommon for software warnings and errors to be cryptic or poorly documented. Several options are available if you are having trouble connecting to QuickBooks.
What do you need to do to troubleshoot data file connectivity issues?
QuickBooks Connection Diagnose Tool tests the connection between the client machine and server manager. It will help you understand what’s going on. To allow QuickBooks to connect to the network, firewall rules may also be set.
Once you have installed the tool, open it, click Browse, and then click Test Connectivity to locate your company’s data file. The database server is having problems connecting if there are no green check marks. You can run IP Reverse Lookups and check the status of your DB service in the Advanced section. Allow the diagnostic tool access to firewall ports when prompted. Diagnostic tools are very adept at this. An error preventing the diagnostic tool from connecting to your database server will need to be fixed.
Database server manager
You probably only have QuickBooks database manager installed on your server. By using this tool, you can tell the service where to look for data files. If the QB database server does not know where the files are, clients cannot access them. Place your data files in a shared folder at the root of C (such as C:Data or C:QB). Ensure that everyone who needs access has full rights to the file. Click Add Folder in the QuickBooks database server manager.
Once the folder has been added, click Scan. In the QuickBooks company file area, you can find all the data files in that folder. Verify that the data files are indeed in the folder.
To fix a QuickBooks server that isn’t working, follow these steps:-
1. Start your server and type services.msc into the Run box.
2. Find the QuickBooks server manager in the Services window (QuickBooksDB20 if you have a newer version).
3. Disable older database managers and stop them from running
4. Make sure that the service is set to Automatic.
5. Check the Recovery tab for failures. Restart the service by clicking OK.
6. Select Start or Restart from the right-click menu.
7. Go back to the QuickBooks server manager and scan the folder again after the service is started or restarted.
8. Once the files are visible, you can reconnect to the client.
You can resolve a connection issue by following these tips.
- Ensure that QuickBooks is hosted on the server. The client can cause connection problems by turning on hosting.
- Log on to a client computer if you haven’t already and copy the data file there. Verify the file and rebuild it if possible. You can then create a portable backup of the data file. After that, copy the portable backup back to the server. Now you can restore the portable file to a client computer and hopefully, your connection will be restored.
- Check your transaction log (.tlg) file associated with your data files. You can create a portable backup of the larger file and then restore it with a new name if it is larger than your data files. Your.tlg file will be reset as a result.
- If the connection to the data file still does not work, temporarily disable the firewalls on both the client and the server. You can try again after turning on the client firewall if the connection was successful. You will need to add exceptions to your server firewall if the connection fails. Once you have successfully connected to QuickBooks, make sure you restart the firewall. Ports that should be allowed are listed in this QuickBooks knowledgebase article.
Also Read- What is the cause of QuickBooks not opening after the Windows 10 update?
It is possible that the server is causing a problem with the connection to the data file. Until the server problem is fixed, I will host the file on one of the client machines. While you try to resolve the server issue, you can use this quick fix to get your users using QuickBooks. Some servers have been compromised. QuickBooks clients would be able to access the data file after re-installing the OS. Moving the data file to another computer is ideal in these circumstances. If you move the file to another host, you must follow these steps.
1. Create a shared folder for the new host.
2. The data files should be copied to the shared folder.
3. The new host should open QuickBooks.
4. Select File | Utilities | Host Multi-User Access.
For each client, you should now do the following:
1. A newly-hosted directory can be mapped by the client.
2. QuickBooks should be open.
3. Point the company file at the map file.
