How Ivo is configured in an organisation

Created by Ivo Support, Modified on Mon, 19 Aug, 2024 at 6:20 AM by Ivo Support

WARNINGS

The Ivo data cannot be stored in a drive or folder that is being synchronised with a file sync service such as DropBox, Google Drive or Microsoft OneDrive.
It is strongly recommended that the "Previous Versions"/"ShadowCopy" function of Windows be switched off for the Ivo data location. While it is rare, this function is known to potentially cause corruption in the Ivo data file.
Use of tablets such as a Microsoft Surface tablet, where the Ivo software is installed directly on the device, is not supported and not recommended. Such devices regularly enter a 'sleep' mode which ends the connection Ivo has with its data file and Ivo is not currently able to automatically reconnect. As of May 2019 this is in the process of being implemented within Ivo, but is not yet available.

Ivo data location structure

The Ivo software uses a Microsoft Jet database as its data store (ie. the same data store used by Microsoft Access). This is a file-based database system so there is no server-side software to be installed (we do however install the Ivo client application on the server for administering the database).

1. A central location that all client devices can access is chosen for storing the Ivo data

We recommend that Ivo be stored in its own file share, separate to any other corporate data. This is to avoid curious staff "poking around" in the Ivo folder structure. Examples are -

In a client/server environment - "\\server\Ivo\", or "S:\" (of course, any mapped drive letter can be used). Please note, UNCs are generally preferable to mapped drives.
If only being used on one computer - "C:\Data\Ivo\"
Ivo can be used in peer-to-peer networks as well, by simply sharing the folder Ivo is stored on.
etc.

This "data location" may contain (it depends on the needs of each organisation) contain a file called "IvoDatabases.ini". This file allows for multiple data files to be accessed by Ivo (see point 2 for an example), and simply contains pointers to each data file.

2. Folder structure in the Ivo data location -

We usually create both "LIVE" and "TEST" environments. The "TEST" environment can be used by staff for "playing around" in Ivo, and for training purposes. In each of these environments, the folder structure is as follows

Note, Ivo automatically creates all the above folders when first opened (and will automatically re-create any missing folders).

3. The Ivo Installation executables

The \1024\Updates folder contains the installation files for Ivo. There will be a "Setup" file, an "Update" file, and an "INI" file. The .ini file contains the "DataLocation" setting used by the client computer. This value must be set to the DataLocation for your organisation. When you run the Ivo setup program, this file is copied to the local "C:\ProgramData\1024\Ivo\" folder.

When the setup program is complete, it runs the Ivo program which will find any update files and execute them. Once that is done, Ivo is fully installed. If the Ivo login screen appears, then the installation has completed successfully.

6. Installing Ivo on a computer

See the article 'Installing the Ivo software on a computer '