Use this article to install the ToolWatch Integration Connector for Sage 100 Contractor. First, you install the connector, set up the ToolWatch integration user, and check the connector's network connection. Then you send your SQL Server connection details to ToolWatch. If needed, you can also change the connector region and set up a shared folder for posting files.
Install the ToolWatch Integration Connector
Download the .MSI file from secure.toolwatch.com/g/connector-install.
Run the .MSI file.
After the install is complete, open a web browser and go to http://localhost:5280. A Windows Service now runs in the background.
Record the Connector ID shown on the page.
Set Up the ToolWatch Integration User in Sage 100 Contractor
The integration user must have access to the Sage 100 Contractor company being integrated with ToolWatch. If you hover over the company name, the path to that company's database is displayed.
The integration user must be in a role that has ODBC Read Access.
The integration user's account must be available. If the password is set to expire, then an expired password will cause the integration to fail until the password is reset and the new password communicated to ToolWatch.
Note: If you get a "Password and user name are required" error message while accessing Sage 100 Contractor, this is the error message we expect when the password or user name is incorrect. Reenter the password and user name to resolve this issue.
Screenshots for Setting Up the ToolWatch Integration User in Sage 100 Contractor
Change the Connector Region (If Needed)
Depending on your ToolWatch region, you may have to change what server the ToolWatch Integration Connector communicates with. By default the Integration Connector communicates with the East region. ToolWatch will inform you during integration setup if this needs to be changed. To change this region on the Windows machine with the connector:
Open a web browser and go to http://localhost:5280/.
Confirm that you see a version number on this page. If you do not, download and install the latest version of the connector.
To the right of API URL, click edit.
On the page that loads, enter the API URL for your region from the Region API URLs list below.
As instructed on the confirmation page, restart the Windows Service.
Refresh the page to see that the change has taken effect.
Region API URLs
Check the Network Connection
Networking rules where the ToolWatch Connector is installed might block traffic to these API endpoints.
On the computer where the ToolWatch Connector is installed, open a web browser.
Go to the API URL for your region.
Make sure the text "ToolWatch Connector API" appears.
To run more connection tests, go to the connector page at http://localhost:5280/.
Click Check connection.
Note: The Check connection link runs a series of connection tests for the current API endpoint.
If the first test is successful, you will see "Success!". Otherwise, you will see the response code and error message for the connection request, the DNS name resolution for the API endpoint, and whether you were able to connect to the API endpoint through a TCP connection on port 443. You can run as many connection checks as needed. If the connection check fails, contact ToolWatch Support.
Send Your Connection Details to ToolWatch
When you have the Connector ID, send ToolWatch the following information:
Connector ID
The SQL Server address (server name, or server\instance) hosting the Sage 100 Contractor database
The Sage 100 Contractor database name
Database login name (the ToolWatch integration will log in under this SQL Server user)
Database password
If you would prefer not to send this information via email, then please call our support team at 720-856-3441 and they will be happy to capture the information over the phone.
When the connector is installed, the service will run under the user 'Local Service' by default. If you want posting to send files to a server folder via the 'WriteTextFile', you have to make sure the folder is a shared folder and it allows 'Local Service' to write to that location.
You can do that by:
Creating a share folder
Create and name your folder.
Right-click the folder and go to Properties.
Go to the Sharing tab.
Click Share.
Select Everyone from the dropdown list.
Click Share to complete.
Updating permissions on the share folder
Right-click the share folder and go to Properties.
Go to the Security tab.
Click Edit.
Click Add.
Search for Local Service.
Add Local Service to the group.
Click Apply/OK until done.
If the service user is changed, then that Windows user (not Local Service) will need access to the destination folder.
Q: What is the ToolWatch Connector?
A: The ToolWatch Connector is a Windows Service that allows the ToolWatch Cloud to integrate with on-premise systems.
Q: Where should this connector be installed?
A: For Vista, Spectrum, CMiC, and Sage 100 Contractor integration customers, the connector can be installed on any host that has network access to the database or the APIs exposed by the application server. This can be the database server itself, the application server, or a completely separate host.
For Sage 300 CRE integrations, the connector must be installed on a host that has filesystem access to the application database. This can be either via the local filesystem, or via a network share.
Q: What are the network requirements?
A: For all integrations the host must be able to make outbound HTTPS calls to:
api-connector.toolwatch.net
api-connector.east.toolwatch.net
api-connector.central.toolwatch.net
api-connector.west.toolwatch.net
If you need to whitelist these destinations, you must whitelist the domain, and not the IP address, as the IP address will change frequently as our cloud platform elastically scales up and down.
No inbound network access is required.
Q: Are there any requirements for the host?
A: The host only needs to be running Windows with a recent version of the .NET framework. There are no other external requirements such as SQL Management Studio. CPU, memory, and disk requirements are negligible.
Q: How much load will this put on our production system?
A: The load caused by the integration should be negligible relative to a normal workload, but as with all things appropriate testing is advised. A simple approach would be to initially try the integration after hours for load testing. Using a ToolWatch sandbox account would further allow for testing different configurations without worrying about affecting production data.
Q: How do you uninstall the ToolWatch Connector?
A: Use the Windows Add/Remove Programs in Windows Settings. The connector will be listed as "ToolWatch Connector" and can be uninstalled using the remove option.