This user guide is intended for network administrators responsible for the installation, upgrade, and technical configuration of an iService installation. Most of the set up and configuration of an iService tenant is done through the web interface. See the iService user guide for details on configuring a tenant using the web interface.
IService is a multi-tenant application that uses a single app but separate databases for each tenant. This simplifies the upgrade process because there's only one website and set of web services for the installation. The schemas for each tenant database are identical, and are updated automatically when new versions of iService are installed. The configuration for each tenant, including custom forms and changes to the user interface, are managed through settings within the tenant's database.
iService uses a single website and separate tenant DBs
iService can be installed on a single server, or multiple servers depending upon the number of users within your installation. It is a .Net application that requires a Microsoft Internet information service (IIS) web server and a Microsoft SQL Server database. This user guide does not make any distinction between a single server or multiple server configuration.
The components of iService are briefly described below.
SQL Server Database
•iService stores all of its information for the tenants and the overall installation within a set of Microsoft SQL Server databases. Microsoft SQL Server 2016 or newer are certified with iService.
•The reports used with iService business intelligence are built on Microsoft SQL Server reporting services (SSRS). Although SSRS can be run on your primary database server, for security purposes it is recommended that SSRS operate on a separate server. This is because the SSRS server is directly exposed to users and has a larger attack surface than the SQL Server database, which can be located on internal IPs in a more secure location. Reports are only compatible with SSRS 2016 and newer. The SSRS Web Services should operate on a separate server, but the SSRS database may reside on the database server. |
iService Website
NOTE: The IIS Web Server must be running at least .NET 4.6.2.
The installer will detect your version of .NET and prompt for updating if you are not running the correct version. If you are running other applications on the web server, ensure the new version is compatible with your other applications.
•Users configure their iService tenant and access all of its features through the iService website. The website requires Microsoft IIS 8 or higher.
•iService is built upon a set of Web services that interact with the iService database. The Web services file (iService.asmx) is typically located on the same Web server as the iService website, but can operate on a separate Web server if desired.
•Any error log files generated by the web services will be written into the folder that contains the web services. You must ensure that appropriate access is granted for writing to this folder. The deploy script will set permission automatically. |
Mailpopper Service
NOTE: The server running the Windows service must be running at least .NET 4.6.2.
•iService uses a Windows service that gathers mail from monitored mailboxes, launches mail processing threads, and performs a variety of other functions. This service can be installed on any Windows server (we do not recommend running the mailpopper service on the database server).
•The MailPopper service interacts heavily with the iService Web services, and the best performance is usually found by installing the service on your Web server that contains the iService Web services file.
•The DLLs for this service are by default stored in c:\Program Files\1to1Service\iService. Any error log files generated by the mail popper service will be written to this folder. |
