Setup Requirements
This procedure allows you to switch from the Noah 4 default Microsoft SQL Compact Edition (CE) database, to a version of SQL Server purchased from Microsoft.
These directions are valid for the setup of a new Noah 4 installation or for a machine that has been running Noah 4 with the CE database and now wants to move to Microsoft SQL Server.
These directions will work on all Windows operating systems and Microsoft SQL Server versions listed in the HIMSA Product Life Cycle and Platform Strategy Document.
There are several important requirements to be aware of before you begin:
- The location configuring Noah to use SQL Server must assume the responsibility for installing, configuring, maintaining, and backing up the Noah database on SQL Server.
- The Noah 4 database Backup and Restore tools will not function after Noah 4 has been connected to SQL Server.
- After you have switched to the SQL Server database, be advised that the built-in Noah database users ABC and adm will be reset to their default passwords and levels. If you have removed or modified the log in credentials for these Noah users in the compact database, you will need to reset.
- Do not uninstall the Microsoft SQL Compact Edition database after configuring Noah to use Microsoft SQL Server. There are required preference settings in the NoahCfgDatabase.sdf file and Noah will not launch if the database has been uninstalled.
- If you have an existing local Noah CE database that you are migrating to SQL Server and would like to ensure that patient data is removed after successfully migrating the data to SQL Server, click here for more information.
- If you are using SQL Server 2012 or later and Windows Authentication, additional steps must be taken after the switch to SQL Server has been made, specific steps are found at step 10 of the installation procedure.
- Noah encrypts data in transmission between the Noah server and the database. If Noah and the SQL database are on the same computer, the encryption is handled by Noah automatically. If the SQL database is located on a different machine, you can add transmission encryption via the connection string. See step 4 of the installation procedure for details.
Installation Procedure
I. Install SQL Server (typically done by DBA).
- Create a named instance when installing SQL Server, DO NOT use the default instance. HIMSA requires a named instance for ease of support and to make it possible for more than one Noah database to be located on the same SQL Server. Give the instance an original name, do not use NOAH or HIMSA for the instance name.
- Windows Authentication can be used if Noah and the SQL Server database are on the same machine. Mixed Mode Authentication must be selected if the Noah application and Noah database will be located on different machines.
- For Mixed Mode authentication (SQL Authentication), a sql user and password are required for the connection string. The sql user must have db admin rights to create and update the database.
- Other than the mixed mode requirement, the directions for configuring Noah 4 to use SQL on a separate server are the same.
II. Install Noah System if you are not configuring an existing Noah installation.
- If this is a new Noah installation, the Noah Configuration Wizard will launch at the end of installation, select the first option Store all my patient records on this computer.
- If this is a new Noah installation, you may need to move an existing Noah patient database from another machine. See these directions to Restore a Noah database from another machine. With the database Restored to the local compact edition database, this will allow the Noah 4 DB Converter tool to move the data into the SQL Server database.
III. Locate and launch the Noah 4 DB Converter tool. The tool is run on the Noah application server and is used to point Noah to the SQL Server database and Migrate any patients from the local CE database to SQL Server.
- The Noah 4 DB Converter Tool is included with the installation of Noah. You will find the tool at C:\Program Files (x86)\HIMSA\Noah 4. To run the tool, right click and choose ‘Run as Administrator’ on Noah4DBConverter.exe.
- The existing patients in your local CE database will be shown in the DB Converter tool.
IV. From the Converter menu, select Migrate, Edit Configuration File. The information entered here will tell Noah how to access the SQL Server database.
- The Instance name will need to be changed to the instance entered during the SQL installation. For our example screen shots, the instance is named Audiology.
- The Server name will need to be changed to the name of the server computer where the SQL Server is installed. For our example screen shots, the server is called DataServer.
- The fields Command timeout, Connect retry count, Connect retry interval, and Compress bob at, are NOT edited
- Noah encrypts data in transmission between the Noah server and the database. If Noah and the SQL database are on the same computer, it is handled by Noah automatically. If the SQL database is located on a different machine, you can add this encryption request to the connection string.
- The Connection String will need to be written. The format is as follows, there are sample strings shown below:
| Authentication used | Connection String format |
| Windows Authentication Noah and SQL on same machine | Data Source=server name\instance name; Initial Catalog=Master;Integrated Security = True |
| SQL Authentication Noah server and SQL Server on different machines | Data Source= server name\instance name; Initial Catalog=Master;User ID = SA; Password=yourpassword |
| SQL Authentication with encryption * If the SQL Server is on different machine, you can add encryption of data between Noah and the SQL Server. | Data Source= server name\instance name; Initial Catalog=Master;User ID = SA; Password=yourpassword; Encrypt=True;TrustServerCertificate=True |
Sample of Windows Authentication connection string with server named Data Server and instance Audiology:
Sample of SQL Authentication connection string with server named Data Server, instance Audiology, and encryption:
6. Select OK when you have completed making changes in the Edit Configuration file window.
V. Select Migrate, Create MSSQL Db. Select OK to create the Noah 4 database and tables in SQL Server. When complete, you will see a successful creation message.
Note: If you entered the Configuration string incorrectly in the previous step, you will receive an error like the following:
VI. Select Migrate, Test MSSQL database connection. Select Test, if the connection is good, the Not Validated will change to OK.
VII. Select Migrate, Export data to MSSQL. This step will populate the SQL database with Noah user information, passwords, and patient records from the local Noah 4 CE database.
- There is a progress bar for the migration at the bottom of the screen, when complete it will say Export Success.
- This can take time if you are migrating a very large database. For example, a 3GB database could take an hour to migrate. If the title bar of the tool shows a ‘Not responding’ during a long migration, it can be ignored.
VIII. Select Migrate, Settings file update. Select the NOAHDatabaseCore.dll file. The file will be selected automatically by the tool but for reference it is found at C:\Program Files (x86)\HIMSA\Noah 4. Once you have selected Open on the NOAHDatabase.Core.dll, you will be prompted to restart the NOAH Server Service.
VIII. You can restart Noah services in Control Panel, or reboot the Noah Server. To restart Noah services, stop the Noah Client service, restart the Noah Server Service, start the Noah Client service.
X. If you are using SQL Server 2012 or higher and Windows Authentication, you have additional steps that must be performed on the SQL Server machine. The steps are found here.
XI. At this point, Noah 4 should be using the SQL Server database. To verify you can:
- Launch the Noah Console, select Database Administration, under Summary you will see ‘This tab is not accessible because Noah 4 is configured to use another database than SQL CE’.
- Alternately you can launch the SQL Management Studio. Select the instance you created for the Noah Database, under Databases navigate to NoahDatabaseCore. Expand to view the tables. Open the Patient table and verify the migrated patients are present.