9.10 Adding alternate instances

You can manage one or more P-Synch instances. For example, you can have P-Synch instances representing target systems and users in different geographical regions, or have separate instances with different password rules for different sets of users or clients.

Set up alternate instances by copying the P-Synch directory to another location, then adding an INSTANCE.CFG file in the base installation directory of the alternate instance so that P-Synch updates the appropriate files.

To add a second instance:

1. Stop any services running on the first installed instance of P-Synch.
2. Copy the directory of the first installed instance to a second instance.

   For example, if the first installed instance is:

      C:\ <instance name>\

   Then copy this directory to:

      C:\Program Files\P-Synch-2

3. Copy the P-Synch registry hive from the first installed instance to the second instance.

4. In the registry for the second instance, change the entries:
   • PSINSTALLDIR to point to the new instance directory.
   • PSTEMPDIR to give the TEMP directory for the second instance a different name to the temp directory in the first instance. This is the directory to which log files are copied.
5. Create the TEMP directory for the second instance.

6. Add the following file in the second instance:

      Program Files\P-Synch-2\instance.cfg

7. Open the file and add the registry hive and the instance directory name in the following format:

       REGISTRY=BASE REG KEY FOR INSTANCE
       INSTANCENAME=UNIQUE INSTANCE NAME
   

   For example type:

       REGISTRY=Software\M-Tech\P-Synch-2
       INSTANCENAME=P-Synch-2
   

   Note:

   Do not use Windows special characters, quotes, or spaces in the registry hive name or directory name. P-Synch uses INSTANCENAME line in the INSTANCE.CFG file to rename second instances of services during installation. For example, PUSHPASS is renamed pushpass_P-Synch-2

   
    

8. Add a virtual directory in the web server that points to the cgi bin for the second instance. For example:

      c:\Program Files\P-Synch-2\cgi-bin

   Make the settings identical to the initial psynch virtual directory.

   Note:

   If you are using an IIS web server, ensure that you set the anonymous access account to psadmin

   
    

9. If you want to apply a different look and feel to the user interface for the second instance:
   1. Create a second PSYNCH-DOCS virtual directory. For example, create a psynch-2-docs directory.
   2. Modify the PSMACROS.M4 file, located in the design\src\common directory for the new instance, and replace occurances of psynch-docs with the name of the new directory (e.g. psynch-2-docs).
   3. Edit the .Z files as required. See ``Reference: Customizing the user interface'' on for more information.

9.10.1 Upgrading alternate instances

To upgrade an alternate instance:

1. Unzip the P-Synch software distribution in c:\temp.
2. Copy the INSTANCE.CFG from the instance directory, and into the new distribution directory (c:\temp\psynch).
3. Run SETUP.EXE. The setup program will read the INSTANCE.CFG file and update the secondary instance.