Configuring StifleR SQL History

Enabling SQL History in StifleR means that all data transfers will be logged to a defined SQL database. This extends the visibility of historical client content downloads, but requires additional components.

Choosing a Database Host

The SQL History feature requires a SQL database and host. The SQL database can be hosted on a remote SQL server or installed on the StifleR server. SQL Express can be used, but depending on the number of clients and content downloads, the database size may exceed the 10 GB limit of SQL Express.

Setting Permissions for the SQL Database

The SQL History feature will attempt to write to the SQL database using the user context in which the StifleR Server service is running. For example, if the StifleR Server service is running as "Local System" (default) then the computer account ($ComputerName) of the StifleR server needs to be granted access to SQL. If the StifleR Server service is running under a service account, the service account will need to be granted access.

Required SQL Permissions

The StifleR Server computer or service account will need db_creator permissions to the SQL instance to create and manage the SQL database.

Enabling SQL History in the StifleR Server Configuration File

To enable StifleR SQL History, you will need to edit the StifleR Server Configuration File (StifleR.Service.exe.config) by setting the SQLHistory value to 1.

<add key="SQLHistory" value="1"/>

Configuring the History Database Configuration String

In the same StifleR Server Configuration File, you must define the database server and instance name and optionally the database name.

See the below example of the connection string you should edit in your .config file:

<connectionStrings>
    <add name="StifleR" providerName="System.Data.SqlClient" connectionString="Server=DBSERVER\DBINSTANCE;Trusted_Connection=Yes;DATABASE=StifleR"/>
</connectionStrings>    

Restarting the StifleR Server Service

After editing and saving the StifleR.Service.exe.config file, for the changes to take effect, restart the "2Pint Software StifleR Server" service.

Important: The StifleR SQL History database will not automatically be created after service restart. The database will be created when a client attempts to download content and reports the download status to the StifleR server.