So with the updates done by my hosting provider – I had to make changes to the invoice system. In doing so I did some really dumb things – like attempt updates without backup. So now the invoice system is down and I’m working on getting it back up. The good thing is that I can probably get it working. The BAD thing is I may lose all prior information. I really hope not – working on it and will update.
This is as a result of older PHP versions being totally deprecated and forced upgrades for everyone. I’m not a “software” person and me alone managing the site plus doing my day job makes this….difficult somewhat. So please bear with me until I get this resolved.
Features – 5/5 (most features of any remote software)
Pricing – 2/5 (one of the most expensive)
Ease of setup – 4/5 (a little difficult for inexperienced users to setup)
Address book – 5/5 (unlimited)
Customization – 4/5 (best customization – but moderately difficult)
ConnectWise Control is by far – leaps and bounds – the most feature filled remote control tool on the market that I’ve seen. Nothing that I’ve tested comes even remotely close. Here’s a rundown of all the features I’ve seen.
Remote connection.
Remote ADMINISTRATION without connecting.
Multi-desktop/monitor support.
Meetings.
Reverse-sharing (you share your screen).
Sending clipboard keystrokes.
Blanking guest monitor – with custom message!
Credential storage.
Reboot & reconnect.
Remote printing.
Clipboard sharing – including file transfer.
Custom space for “toolbox” files.
“Guest” login.
FULL auditing.
Screenshots and screen/session recording.
Screen annotation.
And that list above is not exhaustive – just the ones I can recall from my usage. Some of the things in the list above I’d like to highlight would be numbers 2, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 13.
#2 – Remote Administration
The remote administration side includes things such as uninstalling software, checking for running processes and killing them, checking for both private and public IP and seeing the MAC of the system – just to name a few. If a client reports an issue you can then remotely issue commands without connecting – and check for malicious software installations and remove them. You can view what processes are running and terminate them if needs be – among many other things.
#6 – Clipboard Keystrokes
This is a feature that not many other remote tools have and is most useful for persons logging on to a PC or server remotely. In the event that you are sent a password by a client, or have a long/complex password to enter, you can simply copy to the clipboard from your system and “send keystrokes” to the remote system. This ensures no mistakes when entering details.
#7 – Custom Blank Screen
Most developed remote software will have an option to blank the screen. ScreenConnect is the only one I’ve seen that allows a custom message while the screen is blanked on the client side. So you can place a custom message such as “John’s Remote Support” which will be displayed while you work away and what you need.
#8 – Credential Storage
This feature is another that I’ve not seen anywhere else. ScreenConnect allows you to save the login password or administrative password for the system you’re connected to. This means you don’t need to remember passwords for every system – and also means the client doesn’t need to give the password out to you. Whether a one-time support or permanent install on a regular client’s system, the option can be used to have the client type in their password which will then be stored – encrypted – on the ScreenConnect server. This means the client doesn’t need to be there if a reboot is done.
#12 – Toolbox
There is an option to upload files that are most commonly used by you to the ScreenConnect server and then initiate a push to the client PC. This allows you to easily and quickly have access to things that are most used without having to search for and download them each time. Let’s say for example you’re setting up a new PC for a client and they need Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox – whichever they rather. Instead of having to then go online and download it, the files can be pushed to the remote system. This is especially useful if working on newly commissioned VPSes. Other tools such as compression or even hot-fixes can be uploaded to then be pushed to the remote system.
#13 – “Guest” Login
This is another option that I’ve not seen anywhere. Let’s say you’re at the airport and need to do something for a client. You’re about to get on the flight and the client urgently needs your attention. You can either send by email or generate a “guest” link which can then be sent to a trusted colleague, co-worker or employee to do the connection on your behalf. The only issue is the time – each “guest” link is valid for a set amount of time and cannot be revoked. Once you’ve provided the link, the time must expire for the link to become invalid.
The Dark Side
While ScreenConnect is AWESOME – there is one major flaw. As ConnectWise is an established company with a history in IT, they are targeted by hackers greatly.
Those are just two links of many showing the vulnerabilities in the software. The use of forced 2FA for all MSPs now has reduced the exploits, but it may still be a security risk if a feature is exploited.
CONCLUSION
Overall, ScreenConnect is one of the best pieces of software available. The added security with 2FA reduces the risks, but skeptics should seek another alternative. In my usage of the product (over a year) I’ve not had any security issues, but pricing was my primary reason for discontinuing.
I was approached with another ConnectWise product which would offer the things I need – but I need a minimum of 100 clients/devices. My list had over 200, but 90% of clients weren’t paying for the service – which has also forced my decision to step away for now.
Depending on your needs and budget – ScreenConnect may be the choice for you. Best product in overall features, but just a little pricey.
Regardless of the tool in use, bear in mind that unscrupulous persons will use different methods to attempt entry into your system. A call pretending to be from Microsoft or some other company – someone pretending to be from your office who needs to connect and install new software or do troubleshooting. The best thing to do is use safe practices, because MSPs (Managed Service Providers) and individuals alike have been attacked by hackers, and scammers have used the tools to gain access to systems. Regardless of the tool in use – please ensure you thoroughly check out who is providing support. Never grant access to anyone that you haven’t confirmed is supposed to have access.
Ease of setup – 5/5 (one of the easiest to setup/instruct on use)
Address book – 3/5 (uncertain of limit – search is tedious)
Customization – 3/5 (customization a bit tedious)
This review was done on 2021-02-06. More details may be added later on. This was a quick writeup and solely based on my usage of the product.
AnyDesk has come up out of Germany much like TeamViewer. The product is priced cheaper than TeamViewer and has very similar features. IMO – the product is more geared towards managing a few organizations with the option of immediate support. I say this because of the way the address book is structured. Of all the different remote connection tools I’ve used, AnyDesk’s address book isn’t the best but also isn’t the worst. The main issue is the inability to search across the entire set of addresses – searches are restricted only to the category you’re in. Let’s say I have “FAMILY” separate from “BUSINESS1” and “BUSINESS2”. I need to know exactly which group the system I’m looking for is in before I can do the search – or else it will constantly turn up blank.
Remote Connections
AnyDesk is one of the fastst to get going. The program runs portable by default and gives you the connection options immediately. By “runs portable” that means you don’t have to install or setup anything. Just download. Run the file. That’s it.
Meetings
There are no meeting options available at current from what I’ve seen.
Address Book
I don’t know what the limit is with the address book in AnyDesk, but I’ve not exhausted it so far. The way it works is a bit tedious – and the search is limited to the group you’re viewing. This means – if I have BUSINESS1 – BUSINESS2 – HOME – and I want to search for a computer that I can’t recall where it is, then I’ll have to switch between each category and then search. No centralized search. Other than that – it works well enough. The customized names in the address book don’t remain when you connect – it changes to the connection ID/number.
I’ve not seen any filtering options – no way to hide offline systems. While it supports using tags to categorize the systems, these tags are also limited to the group you are viewing. This makes it tedious to find specific types of machines. For example – you’d want to have “DELL LAPTOP” as a tag across multiple categories, but filtering by that tag will only display for the category you’re currently viewing.
Annotations
The annotations in AnyDesk seems to work better than others I’ve tested. It’s easy to draw and make shapes on screen. It’s a bit limited in comparison to others, but it’s more than enough to get the job done.
Screenshots
There doesn’t seem to be an option to take single screenshots. You can record a video of the session, but not take single screenshots. You’ll have to use a third-party application to get that done.
Recording
AnyDesk supports video recording of the session – but it’s a bit disappointing that you can’t take single screenshots. The format is a proprietary one that plays back from within the app. There is no option to export so again a third-party app would be required to export for clients or others to see.
Auditing
Connection audits are available from the web console. This can be exported to an Excel file, but the customized names of the systems won’t be included. Only the ID numbers are shown. Still, it gives you enough to know who connected when – and there’s an option for making notes at the close of a connection. This bit of detail is recorded in the audits, so you can place as much info as you need.
Exporting audits will only do what is visible – not the range you specify and not the entire list. So you would have to be searching for a SPECIFIC incident with a specific client to locate the one with the comments you need.
Conclusion
Overall AnyDesk is a great solution if you only want to do remote support. As a MSP it’s a bit difficult to navigate, but not impossible to do so. Regardless of the tool in use, bear in mind that unscrupulous persons will use different methods to attempt entry into your system. A call pretending to be from Microsoft or some other company – someone pretending to be from your office who needs to connect and install new software or do troubleshooting. The best thing to do is use safe practices, because MSPs (Managed Service Providers) and individuals alike have been attacked by hackers, and scammers have used the tools to gain access to systems. Regardless of the tool in use – please ensure you thoroughly check out who is providing support. Never grant access to anyone that you haven’t confirmed is supposed to have access.
Pricing – 3/5 (not the cheapest, but not the most expensive)
Ease of setup – 4/5 (one of the easiest to setup/instruct on use)
Address book – 4/5 (base license has 200 managed devices)
Customization – 5/5 (easy to customize and deploy clients)
This review was done on 2021-02-06. More details may be added later on. This was a quick writeup and solely based on my usage of the product.
TeamViewer is somewhat of a household name when it comes to remote support. It is by far the most popular remote assistance/support tool on the market. There have been changes made to the program and licensing through the years, but it remains #1.
I will copy/paste the details about the forced obsolescence (with some modifications) and then we’ll move on to more details about the program.
TeamViewer Forced Obsolescence Story
In the past people figured out that using TV5 would mean less ads and more connection times. This somewhat circumvented the licensing issue where it couldn’t be used in commercial environments.
As a Jamaican I can only speak about what I saw here, but I believe the same thing was being done elsewhere. At the time that I purchased my TV11 license there were other individuals and companies still using TV5. This was disturbing because I’m a single tech that made the sacrifice to buy the license while large companies would still use these workarounds for their workforce. I’m talking about well established local software vendors with multiple employees – and they support multiple clients island-wide. Since my license allowed me to connect to all versions below 11, I had no problems doing the connection. I did however take issue with the fact that some newer features would be missing, but as I was the secondary support person I left their installed software version alone.
To protect their intellectual property, the company made changes to their software to prevent connections to/from older versions. This move was good in keeping with the SaaS type of move, but bad for persons like me.
What would happen is this. Let’s say TV15 is the current version (as of 2021-02-05). If you tried to connect to TV5 it would tell you that the connection is not possible – you would need to upgrade. This will also happen if you try to connect to older versions (I believe 2 or more versions behind) than whatever is most current. Any attempts to use an old version (more than 2 versions behind) will result in an error. This forces all persons to be up to date.
Please note that this applies only to free versions. If you’re connecting from TV15 free to any older version paid – it will allow the connection. If you’re connecting from TV11 paid to any free version then you’ll get an upgrade message.
So I had purchased a perpetual license before they moved to a SaaS based model – where you have to pay a subscription fee yearly. This was for TV11, and I had it setup at ALL of my clients. These clients also needed access to their systems, so they would use TV as well – but less than two months after my purchase, they released TV12. I asked for a discount considering the VERY recent purchase – I was given a coupon for less than 10%. That aside, my clients were then forced – somewhere between TV12 and TV13 – to upgrade their software in order to connect to their devices. This then locked me out with my licensed older version. No warning, newsletter, notice or heads-up of any kind was given. I foud out the hard way. This is the reason I only use my licensed product if I have no other choice and moved to finding other solutions.
Back On Track – TV Features & Usage
So. After ranting above a bit, let’s get back to the things you can do with TeamViewer.
Remote Connections
The staple of these type of applications is to be able to connect to a remote device. This is possible on Windows and Mac desktop/laptop platforms – and in more recent times, Android and iOS mobile platforms as well.
The software uses a number with a password combination (ID and PW) which is randomly generated. I assume the ID is based on some hardware components plus available numbers. The password is randomly generated, but you can specify a static password in the settings.
Remote control is available so that a more knowledgeable person can assist a friend, family member or client to get through an issue. From technical troubleshooting and resolution to just helping someone find a feature in a program, the remote access/control/support feature is the primary use of TeamViewer and any other remote application.
Meetings
TeamViewer allows you to host meetings where someone can be the presenter sharing their screen. I’m not sure if there’s a limit to the number of participants, but this may be dependent on your license type. This is a great feature as it allows you to organize demonstrations for clients, workers, colleagues and others.
Address Book
While a staple with TeamViewer, not every remote application gives you a large enough address book. The smallest subscription starts at 200 devices – which is more than enough for some persons. That means you can have that many devices in your address book but still connect to any other client using the other avenues – including quick support and direct ID/PW.
Annotations
TeamViewer allows you to guide users on how to do tasks by using drawings/annotations on screen. This lets you draw boxes, lines, arrows and such to show users what to click and where to go. Having persons perform the task instead of doing it for them will help them to remember the steps.
Screenshots
Adding to the annotations, you can take screenshots and then send back to the client as reminders of what steps they should take. This can also be done for auditing of what was done.
Recording
TeamViewer supports session recording so that you have a video record of exactly what was done. This is done using a proprietary video codec that is then played back through the program. You can then export it or record it using another application.
Auditing
In cases where there are clients concerned about security, there are logs available in three areas.
The supporter system (the one giving assistance).
The supported system (the one getting help).
The web control panel.
You will always be able to find who was connected and when.
The Bad Side
Aside from the change in business model and miniscule discount offered when I had recently purchased the software – I have no other issues with the company. The stance taken to push persons towards the new business model was not appreciated either, but it doesn’t take from the fact that their software is one of the best on the market.
There is – however – a cautionary note for all remote tool users. MSPs (Managed Service Providers) have been attacked by hackers, and scammers have used the tools to gain access to systems. Regardless of the tool – TeamViewer or otherwise – please ensure you thoroughly check out who is providing support. Never grant access to anyone that you haven’t confirmed is supposed to have access.
Conclusion
TeamViewer is a trusted name in the business. Their product is stable but does not support older systems. The pricing is workable for medium to large business use cases – smaller businesses or individuals may have issues with the licensing. The current business model is workable if you’ve not experienced the changes during transition. If you need something that works and is well known – this is your tool. If you support older systems (including Windows XP – yes, people still use that) then you may need another tool. If you purchased a perpetual license previously, then the issue would be granting clients access to their machines remotely if that is needed.
Subscribe if you want to their service, but ensure you do research beforehand.
So I’ve been doing this IT thing for a while. Remote support has been a thing for a LONG time, but it’s become more necessary and relevant now. I’m going to run through a few different remote tools so that everyone can be aware of the various options available.
This post may be updated at a later point. I will also be adding a more in-depth review of each item.
Original post date is 2021-02-05. Current update is on 2021-02-06.
You may realize that I have (or had) links to some of these on my website. I have used both free and paid versions of many of these solutions, and here I will give my take on each one in no specific order. Please note that I will be abbreviating most of the items – so TeamViewer will become TV, ScreenConnect will become SC, AnyDesk will become AD and so on.
Please note that as usual – this is a personal blog. There are no facts here – just the opinions of the writer. If my opinions offend you then that’s not the intention. Simply get in touch and we can privately (or publicly) hash things out. It’s kinda sad that we’ve got to do disclaimers like that now. The world has become so touchy over every little thing. Anyways – let’s get to it.
This is by far the most popular remote assistance/support tool on the market. There have been changes made to the program and licensing through the years, but it remains #1.
The features of TV are really great. The support is awesome – for getting replies about your issues – and the software updates VERY fast. From a usage perspective here are the pros and cons.
PROS:
Well known and trusted.
Quick updates.
CONS:
Forced obsolescence.
I really have no other issues with TV outside of this. But again – this is from a personal experience standpoint. I’ll explain all of that in a minute.
TeamViewer Forced Obsolescence Story
So here’s the thing. In the past people figured out that using TV5 would mean less ads and more connection times. This circumvented the licensing issue where it couldn’t be used in commercial environments.
To protect their intellectual property, the company made changes to their software to prevent connections to/from older versions.
What would happen is this. Let’s say TV15 is the current version (as of 2021-02-05). If you tried to connect to TV5 it would tell you that the connection is not possible – you would need to upgrade. This will also happen if you try to connect to older versions (I believe 2 or more versions behind) than whatever is most current. Any attempts to use an old version (more than 2 versions behind) will result in an error. This forces all persons to be up to date.
So I had purchased a perpetual license before they moved to a SaaS based model – where you have to pay a subscription fee yearly. This was for TV11, and I had it setup at ALL of my clients. These clients also needed access to their systems, so they would use TV as well – but less than two months after my purchase, they released TV12. I asked for a discount considering the VERY recent purchase – I was given a coupon for less than 10%. That aside, my clients were then forced – somewhere between TV12 and TV13 – to upgrade their software in order to connect to their devices. This then locked me out with my licensed older version. No warning, newsletter, notice or heads-up of any kind was given. I foud out the hard way. This is the reason I only use my licensed product if I have no other choice and moved to finding other solutions.
This is currently the #2 and hailing from Germany as well – I believe that TeamViewer also started in Germany. AnyDesk is very quickly stealing the spotlight as the go-to software for remote support. The software evolves quickly and the pricing is at about 40% less than TeamViewer.
The features that are in AnyDesk have not fully matured – but all the things you need to get going are there. The best thing? You can run without requiring elevated privileges – so support can be provided to persons with limited credentials.
Issues with AD would be some differences with operation on mobile – versus what I’m accustomed to on others. I expect things to evolve and more features to be added later on.
While not as popular as the others, this has FAR more features than any other remote tool on the market. The ONLY issues that I have with SC would be pricing and mouse usage from the mobile platform. There is no other remote app that gives you the level of control and set of features that this does.
Shows connected device details including make/model/serial.
2FA.
Can store user passwords so you don’t need to remember them.
Can issue a “GUEST PASS” to have a friend/colleague assist with support if you’re driving or otherwise indisposed.
Can send clipboard keystrokes.
Lists and numbers all devices.
There is nothing else on the market that has the features available in ScreenConnect. And it also supports month-to-month payments which I’ve not seen any other company do.
While not as popular as the others, RU is something that I’d recommend to EVERY starting technical person that has to do remote support.
RU is one of the (very) few tools that still has a perpetual licensing option. Starting at USD$100, the software allows you to connect to an unlimited number of devices, but is limited by an “address book” which is tied to your license.
Costing is at the following USD amounts – $99/$249/$499. Each has an address book limitation of 20/50/unlimited. This means that you can have a maximum of 20/50 items saved in your address book with the first two licenses.
It doesn’t have a “direct connect” feature where you can insert the ID/password of a client and connect – instead, each client must be added to your address book. If you’re supporting someone for a one-off situation, simply add them then delete. Keep the ones that you need to support more often in the address book.
For a technician starting out – USD$99 isn’t a horrible price for software that gives very good connectivity with most of the features you’d want from other popular software. Development progresses slowly, but support is very responsive. The upgrade path is easy and – best of all – there is a FREE licensing option available which gives you an address book with 10 entries.
I would recommend RU over everything – the ONLY issues would be that it’s not as fast as the others with remote viewing and the mobile app needs some work. The address book is also localized – so there is no synchronizing with cloud services available. If this was supported then even with the speed issues, I’d firmly place RU at the #3 spot.
SUMMARY
While you may rate the software based on your own experiences, the features will place the items in different orders. If you’re looking for speed – AnyDesk may be #1. If you’re looking at features then ScreenConnect may be #1. If you’re looking at a combination of features and popularity, then TeamViewer may be #1. It depends on what you’re looking for. Test and see what you like. If you’re starting out – use RemoteUtilities. If you want other features – check with each vendor before purchasing/subscribing.
Well. We made it to 2021 and tech is still advancing. And I’m still not updating this as much as I should. Apologies. This will be short because I INTEND to do a bit better. We’ll see if it actually happens. And condolences to those who have lost loved ones in the past year. Keep safe everyone – especially during the COVID stuff going on.
So. Yes. 2020. It’s been a while (again). I don’t have much to update really – was in hospital – was out of hospital. That’s a story for another time.
With all of the online threats available, I’ve done some digging into online storage and things that can be done to mitigate virus/malware/ransomware issues. There are lots of great contenders, but I will update once I’ve done some more research and digging into it.
For the more technical persons, I’ve found some OwnCloud/NextCloud items and others which support WebDAV, but I’m having a horrible time with the transfer rate after mapping a drive in Windows. But – we’ll see how it all works out in the end.
The landscape with viruses have changed and ransomware is the thing you don’t want to get. I’ve seen businesses come to a halt as a result of infections. And the main ways you get infected are:
Emails
Websites
Flash/Thumb Drives
User Database Compromise
So let me clarify each area so you know what to look out for.
EMAILS
This is the way I’ve seen most business places get infected. It starts out with one person innocently opening an email that either looks like it’s business-related, or it actually is business-related.
If it’s from a legitimate business contact then their system got infected. Other times it’s just random spam that seems legitimate. Usually opening the email does nothing – but you do have some which you should just avoid. Normally what happens is there’s a link or file attached and once the link is clicked or file is opened, then the system becomes infected.
WEBSITES
Sometimes a legitimate site can be hacked or get compromised. Links may be there along with pop-ups which may get accidentally clicked on. Some ransomware really just needs to get on the system – they don’t need user interaction – and then they start to work.
FLASH/THUMB DRIVES
This is somewhat self explanatory – you get infected once a drive is put in your system. Most times this method will require something to be run from the drive – and an AUTORUN file may assist the malicious program with installation.
USER DATABASE COMPROMISE
This one involves your password/s being stolen by hackers. A website that you may have access or membership to may get compromised and the user database gets leaked. These files are usually encrypted, but there are times when they may either not be encrypted, or the type of encryption used is easy to break by hackers. In this case you may either get emails including your password with threats to leak data. These can usually be ignored, but your common passwords should be changed immediately should this happen.
In other cases your email may be broken into – especially if your passwords are similar across sites – and then your details may be stolen or your account may be used to send out malicious software to your contacts.
PREVENTATIVE STEPS
There are a number of things that you can do to help with online safety. These include:
Using a password manager.
Practicing safe browsing.
Using an antivirus application.
Using backup services.
PASSWORD MANAGER
Many different tools exist. The most popular ones are probably RoboForm and LastPass.
SAFE BROWSING
Only go to sites that you know.
Don’t follow multiple links.
Beware the lure of web-based games on less known sites.
ANTIVIRUS
Most antivirus programs have free and paid solutions. While the free solutions work, they only offer basic protection. You would need to supplement with free anti-spyware applications as well. Purchasing one of the antivirus suites will usually provide adequate protection.
BACKUP SERVICES
This is by far the best route to go if you have critical files you don’t want to lose. Either as a business or an individual, it’s best to have some form of backup – locally or cloud based.
The disadvantages with local backups would be:
Some ransomware will lock the backup device.
Device failure.
Responsibility falls on you to maintain.
The disadvantages with cloud backups would be:
Time to download (if internet is slow).
Finding one to suit your needs and pocket.
Finding one with versioning.
Versioning is the ability to go back in time with a file. So if it gets infected you can go back a few dates/revisions to find an uninfected version.
EXTERNAL SOURCES
Here I’ll be placing some links to information about some known and not-so-known ransomware. LOCKY is probably the most popular one, and has had removal programs available. NOZELESN has been around for a few years and there’s still no “cure” for that as yet.
The link above shows some of the things that can happen when your business gets infected.
On February 18, 2016, the Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center paid a $17,000 ransom in the form of bitcoins for the decryption key for patient data.[17] The Hospital was infected by the delivery of an email attachment disguised as a Microsoft Word invoice.[18] This has led to increased fear and knowledge about ransomware in general and has brought ransomware into public spotlight once again. There appears to be a trend in ransomware being used to attack hospitals and it appears to be growing. [19]
The link above shows how discussions have been going on for years about NOZELESN with no fix.
IN CLOSING
The digital landscape changes every day, and protection is needed against malicious programs and persons. Sometimes we cause misfortune upon ourselves due to lack of knowledge, but sometimes we’re just unfortunately at the wrong site at the wrong time.
Being Jamaican I’d like to point out that there have been many incidents where local government sites got hacked. The major issue is that businesses and individuals give little thought to cyber security. This is something that needs to be taken seriously.
Something that I’d like to address – the content updating. While other companies, individuals and websites will push daily content it’s not something I’m keen on. Why? There are hundreds – thousands – millions of resources available online. Many times you’d go to sites like “HowToGeek” or “LifeHacker” and find similar articles – either with the exact same method or different methods to accomplish the same task. I’m just one guy and at times I will find information that is either not available anywhere else online, or very hard to find. This is the information that I push – quality over quantity. When things change then I may get into the race of trying to push content before other sites do, but for the time being the focus is getting information out there that will be helpful to all persons that visit my site. That’s all for now – see you in the next update! And hopefully it won’t take over a year……
This document is created to help persons setting up InvoiceNinja on HostGator Shared Hosting accounts. While the instructions may be specific to HostGator the principles may apply to other hosts.
Requirements
HostGator account or other hosting account / website.
FTP access to site.
SQL database and user creation.
PHP 7.0 or higher.
InvoiceNinja 4.5.5 (as of this writing) – extracted ZIP.
FTP client.
Disclaimer
I’m doing this entirely voluntarily. If you mess something up I will not be held responsible. This is to help persons with HostGator Shared Hosting accounts – if you’re hosted elsewhere then the principles may apply but the steps may be different.
Please be aware that during tests it was found that uploading and extracting the ZIP from the host file manager failed. There seems to be a permissions issue which is why the longer route of uploading the extracted files was taken.
I had lots of trouble during the initial testing and setting up. These users provided suggestions and assistance through the entire process to get things going.
Setting Up
If you’re familiar with setting up some of these things you may perform the steps in any order. I will be going through in exactly the same way that I managed to get things working. You may follow if you like or read first then pick your order.
First – get to your cPanel for HostGator and log in. We want to create an SQL database and user using the wizard. Once you’ve logged in locate the wizard from the available options.
Once you’ve located the wizard setup the database with whatever name and password you like. You may use the password generator available when you get to that step, but ensure that you save the information in a safe place.
Once you’ve created the database and user you will next need to add the user to the database. This is all done automatically through the wizard – you want to ensure that the newly created user has all privileges.
Once this is done you want to connect to your FTP for the website and create the folder you’d like to use. This means if you want to use www.mysite.com/invoice then you’ll log on with the FTP client and create a folder in /public_html/ called invoice. If you’re going to use a sub-domain then you will need to remember this path as well. For this I called mine ninjatest and all screenshots will reflect that. Change it to whatever you’d like yours to be. So my path is /public_html/ninjatest just to be clear.
Next you want to copy (drag and drop) all the extracted files to the FTP. Please note that this will take an extended time. Initially I tried to upload the ZIP (took about 2-3 minutes) and then use the HostGator file manager to extract and manage the files. Each time I did this it didn’t work. Suggestions from the persons that provided help said there were file permission errors which were happening as a result of using the HostGator file manager to do the extraction. While transfer via FTP took far longer (3-4 hours) it is the more reliable option. If you opt to use the HostGator file manager – or if you have another host and want to try that – you may go right ahead. It may work, it may not. If you have any errors then use the longer FTP transfer route. Once completed you want to setup a subdomain if you’re taking that route.
Ensure that your subdomain points to the /public folder within the path that you had uploaded InvoiceNinja to. Once completed you should see a confirmation.
You should also see this subdomain populated in a list thereafter if you check.
The next step is to ensure that PHP7 (or higher) is used in the /public folder for InvoiceNinja. To do this, go back to the main cPanel and locate the PHP SELECTOR.
Once it’s up, navigate to the /public_html/ninja/public path or wherever you had it saved.
Once you’re there, change the PHP version using the drop-down list to 7.0 or higher. For this I chose PHP EDGE (7.1) and then clicked UPDATE.
Once it’s completed you’ll get a confirmation.
At this point you should be able to access InvoiceNinja from one of two URLs:
Once it loads you can then complete the setup by filling in the fields. Please note that you may need to setup an email account for the invoice system.
And that’s it – you’re done! Have fun using InvoiceNinja!
A Few Notes
Cron Jobs
The system does allow you to setup cron jobs to automate sending out billing reminders and such. HostGator has options for EasyApache versions 3 and 4. If you find that running a cron fails, try the command for the other version of EasyApache.
You’re going to change /usr/local/bin/php to the relevant path for EA3 or EA4 as mentioned above.
Client Access
If you don’t password protect the client portal based on the invoice links sent, ensure that you give a disclaimer to the clients. The portal is very powerful and has a dashboard with links to client historical data. This means that forwarding the email to other persons will potentially allow them to see all payments made. The recommendation is to have each client setup their password to access the portal.
Conclusion
So far everything is working. I’m still getting accustomed to it and the automation duplicates at times when I manually send things – but that’s not so bad. Once everything is streamlined it should work perfectly.
