Installing the Apex Task E-mailer and LDAP Synchronization Service

1. Choose the server that will host the service. The server needs network access to the Apex database and an SMTP server. Apex recommends that you install the e-mailer service on an existing SMTP server that does not require SMTP authentication.

   If the SMTP server is a remote computer then it must grant relay permissions to the local server. Also, the e-mailer service cannot pass SMTP credentials. If authentication and relaying create problems then work around them by installing a new, local SMTP service from your Windows server CD-ROM.

2. Log on to the target server. Download and run http://iHRsoftware.com/ftp/ApexTaskEmailer.msi (6M).
3. After the service installs, open the apexTaskEmailer.xml file with notepad. The file is usually located at C:\Program Files\Apex\Apex Task Emailer\apexTaskEmailer.xml. Edit the file and change the database and SMTP keys to point to your database and SMTP server.

   You may choose to create an administrative SQL account and use that account in the database connection string. Otherwise, database permissions will be determined by the Windows Account in which the service runs. Two example connection strings are listed below. One uses Windows Authentication and the other uses SQL Authentication.
   
   Data Source=.;Database=IHR;Trusted_Connection=Yes
   Data Source=.;Database=IHR;User Id=SQLEmailAccount;Password=colts2007

4. If you need to synchronize Apex with Active Directory\LDAP then open Apex Software. Click Employees > Custom Fields. If a field for ldapGUID does not already exist then add a new ldapGUID field as a short text box. Enter the ldapGUID for your employees. Alternatively, import the GUIDs from a spreadsheet (Employees > Import Employees from CSV File). Then review the apexTaskEmailer.xml file and insure that the syncLDAP service is enabled and that the database column to ldap field mappings are complete.
   
   
5. Open the computer's list of services. Find Apex Task E-mailer.

   If you choose to use Windows Authentication instead of SQL Authentication then right-click the service, edit its properties, and change the Windows Account to a domain account that has administrative database access (member of IHR.db_owner). Note that the domain account needs read permissions on the local apexTaskEmailer.xml file.

6. Right-click the service and start it. Review your application event log to confirm that the service started successfully.