Installing and Launching Panorama Server
If you have a computer already running Panorama X, you can get Panorama X Team Server running in less than a minute. If Panorama X isn’t already running, launch it, then open the Preferences window from the PanoramaX menu. Then switch to the Advanced panel. You’ll notice that this panel contains a padlock that must be unlocked to access the Panorama Server preferences.

When you unlock this padlock, additional controls appear that allow you to launch and configure Panorama X Team Server.

The Server panel contains the primary configuration for Panorama X Team Server.

For most applications, all you have to do is specify the Server Name and press the Start Panorama Server button.

### Server Name

The Server Name is used to uniquely identify a particular Panorama X Server. The name of the server is embedded into every database uploaded to that server, and is used to establish the connection between the client and the server. You can change the name at any time, but if you do, databases uploaded with the old name will no longer connect to the server. So we recommend that you set up the name once at the start and then leave it alone after that.

By default, Panorama uses the name of the computer as the basis for the server name. For example if the computer name is Bob’s Mac Mini, the Panorama X Team Server name will be Bob’s Panorama X Server. But you can edit the name to whatever you like. It doesn’t have to include a name or the word Server, for example, server names of Payroll Department or Western Region are just fine.

If you are planning to share databases on the internet, however, you should probably avoid generic names like Server or Payroll. This also applies if you are planning to have more than one Panorama Server on your local network. Any client computer can connect to only one Panorama server with a given name. For example suppose several departments in your organization that have servers simply called Panorama Server. These servers could be accessed by anyone in the company over the internet, but a given person will only be able to access one of them. For example, the company president would have to choose whether he wanted to access the payroll, research, or human resources server, because he couldn’t access all of them without reconfiguring his system. If the servers each have unique names then he can access all of them simultaneously.

### Starting the Server

To actually start the Panorama X Team Server on this computer, simply press the Start Panorama X Server Button.

If this is the first time the server has been started on this computer, there will be a ten to fifteen second delay as the server software is installed.

When the installation process is complete, the server version and status is displayed, and the Start button changes into a Stop button.

That’s all there is to it! The server is now ready to use with clients on the local network.

By the way, you’ll notice that Panorama X Team Server doesn’t have any open windows and doesn’t appear in the Dock. This is normal. It simply runs in the background coordinating data flow between the Panorama databases on different computers (and optionally serves web pages as well). You never directly interact with the server, only through the Preferences panels and through the Server Administration wizard.

### Checking the Server

To verify that the server is running correctly, open the Server Administration window from the PanoramaX menu. You should see the server listed. (If you don’t see it, make sure the Include Bonjour Servers option is checked.)

To verify that the server is responding to requests, double click on the radio wave icon. The server will respond with the current date and time.

You should be able to repeat this test on any computer connected to the same network.

### Shutting Down the Server

If you need to shut down the server, simply press the Stop Panorama X Server button. After a short delay the Panorama X Server application will quit. (Note: If there are one or more databases open on the server, you will be asked to confirm before the server shuts down. Keep in mind, however, that this will disconnect all users that are currently sharing databases on this server, and may cause a loss of data.)

### Launching the Server Manually

We recommend launching Panorama X Server thru the Preferences panel, as described above. But once it has been launched once this way, you can also launch it manually from the Finder. To do that, open the folder Application Support/PanoramaX/Server inside your Library folder.

A quick way to open this folder is to open a new Finder window, choose Go to Folder from the Go menu, then enter

    ~/Library/Application Support/PanoramaX/Server/

See Also

- Advanced Server Settings -- Panorama X Server settings for advanced users.
- Client/Server Debug Instrumentation -- using instrumentation with Panorama X server and clients.
- Logging Server Activity -- recording server activities for later analysis.
- Restricting Server Access -- limiting Panorama X Server access to authorized users.
- Server Administration Wizard -- this wizard is used to monitor the operation of Panorama servers (both local and remote servers can be monitored), including monitoring server status, checking database status and downloading databases, and monitoring the status of user sessions.
- Setting up a Computer as a Panorama X Client -- instructions for setting up a new client computer so that it can access a Panorama X server.
- Using an External Web Server -- instructions for using Panorama Server in conjunction with an external web server (for example Apache, Nginx, etc.).

History

Version | Status | Notes
10.2 | New | New in this version.