Guide to Updating Plug-ins

Using FileMaker Server in Red Hat Linux 9-9
Storing plug-in files on the server computer
For automatic file downloading to work correctly, you must place
current plug-in files and text files containing version information for
each plug-in in the correct location on the server computer. In
addition, guests must activate the Auto Update plug-in in the
Application preferences in FileMaker Pro 5.5 before attempting to
open hosted files that require plug-ins.
To set up the server and guest computers for Auto Update:
1. Obtain updated plug-in and version control files from your
FileMaker Pro database developers.
2. Place files for automatic download in the /var/fmserver/
AutoUpdate directory or create a directory named AutoUpdate in the
directory that contains the databases that require plug-ins.
Tip If you host multiple databases that use the same plug-ins, store
updates in the /var/fmserver/AutoUpdate directory, rather than in
individual AutoUpdate folders in each database directory. This
allows you to store an update in one place on the server computer,
and makes it available for all databases that need it.
3. Instruct users of guest computers to enable automatic download in
FileMaker Pro 5.5 as follows: Start FileMaker Pro, choose Edit
menu > Preferences > Application (Windows and Mac OS 8.6 to 9.1)
or FileMaker Pro menu > Preferences > Application (Mac OS X).
4. Click the Plug-ins tab and select Auto Update.
Specifying the location of hosted files
When FileMaker Server starts, it looks for databases in the
/var/fmserver directory (and one level down) by default and opens
them automatically. You can have FileMaker Server open files in a
different directory (and one level down) by specifying the directory
path in the configuration file.
Note The ServerRoot preference parameter is the search path for the
close, pause, and resume commands as well. Therefore, when you
issue a close, pause, or resume command, FileMaker Server looks for
files located in this path.
When you change the location of hosted files, you must restart
FileMaker Server for the new setting to take effect.
To specify the location of hosted files:
1. Switch to the root user and enter the root password.
2. Using your text editor, open the fmserver.conf file.
3. Find the ServerRoot preference parameter and replace the current
value with a new path. For example:
ServerRoot “/var/fmserver/autoopen”
4. If you’re finished making changes to the configuration file, close
the text editor, restart FileMaker Server, and log out as the root user.
Specifying a user account name and group
name for FileMaker Server
For security reasons, you can specify a custom user account name for
FileMaker Server to use after installation, which makes FileMaker
Server run as a non-privileged user. Changing the account and group
name can protect your system from extensive damage if someone
were to misuse the fmserverd process.
Guest platform File format
Windows .fmx file type for plug-in files
.txt version plug-in version control files
Mac OS fmxt file type in bin format (MacBinary) for plug-in files
.txt format plug-in version control files