Installing Employee Portal

Architecture Overview

Installation Instructions

1. Run the Employee Portal installer on the SaaS web server.
2. Step through the installer welcome screen and prerequisites as shown below.

   

   

3. Select the components to be installed, as outlined below:
   • Employee Portal will install Employee Portal web files.
   • Install Expense Service will install the Windows Service to support optional Expense User features. Only select this option if implementing Expense User.
   • Configure IIS Website will create and configure a web instance within IIS that points to the installed web files.

   

4. Choose the Install Location for Employee Portal web files. A separate Portal website installation must be completed for each SAP Business One company.

   After pressing Install, wait a few minutes while the web files are created.

   

   

5. Configure Employee Portal to connect to the previously installed B1WebAPI. The Username and Password were set up during installation of B1WebAPI, which must be used here.

   If there are multiple B1WebAPI profiles, the profile must be referenced in the field marked “Enter the URL for the B1WebAPI”. For example, DEMO profile would be configured with the URL: http://servername:4033/DEMO. If no profile is specified in this screen, the first B1WebAPI profile will be used.

   

   

6. If the option to Install Expense Service was selected, a command prompt will briefly appear to display the progress of the Expense Service installation. Wait for it to complete before proceeding.

7. If the option to Configure IIS Website was selected, the following configuration screen will be displayed. Enter all details as described below. For a typical install, ensure “Name” and “Port” are unique and leave the remaining settings as default, then press okay.

   Important: Firewall Rules may prevent access to the website. Ensure that the website and firewall rules have been configured so the website is accessible to the target audience.
   • Generate New Website will create a new website within IIS for Employee Portal. Default settings can be used. Name must be unique, so if multiple installations are needed, make sure all have different names, for example: Employee Portal Prod versus Employee Portal Test.
   • Use Existing Site will associate Employee Portal with the selected IIS website.
   • Virtual Directory settings can be configured to use the root existing virtual directory, or to create a virtual directory within the IIS website. The default is to use the existing virtual directory.

   

8. Complete the installation by pressing the Finish button, shown below.

   

9. Confirm that the Employee Portal website has been successfully installed by opening the website.

   

Basic Configuration

Minimal configuration is required for a new or upgraded installation of Employee Portal. Review the settings below and apply the most applicable configuration.

Currency ISO Code Setup

Currency ISO codes must be assigned in SAP Business One for all currencies. If a currency doesn't have an ISO code assigned to it, then Portal websites will not display currency signs properly ($, £, €, etc.). If the website is not displaying currency symbols, then check the ISO codes for each currency, as described below.

• In SAP Business One, go to Administration > Setup > Financials > Currencies.

  

• For each currency, select a currency ISO code from the ISO Currency Code drop-down.

  

• For each currency, ensure the International Code contains a valid ISO Code, such as USD or CAD and not a symbol such as $.

Directory Security Configuration

The SAP Business One attachments folder is not typically accessible to the B1WebAPI. This folder must be updated manually as described in the section SAP Business One Attachments Directory Security below.

For a typical installation, no action is required to ensure web application folders are write-accessible. You may run into problems with file uploads (such as attachments or web orders) in the following scenarios:

• If the Application Pool user is changed after installation. In this case, the identified folders need to be updated to use the Application Pool’s actual user.
• If the website is installed manually by copying and pasting files. In this case, the folders will typically inherit permissions on the parent folder, which usually don’t include the needed Application Pool user.

If either of the above scenarios occur, access permissions may need to be updated manually on the application folders identified below.

Directory Security for Employee Portal

A list of the folders for Employee Portal and each folder’s purpose is found below.

B1 Config Profile Setup

As noted in the B1WebAPI installation walkthrough, ensure Attachments Directory and Temp Directory are set in the B1 Config profile. You can verify or update this using InterConnect Server Tools.

Attachments directory is used by Employee Portal features such as Sales User and Expense User.

Temp directory is used as a temporary location for uploaded web files (such as Expense attachments).

Using InterConnect Server Tools, open the B1 Config profile. Ensure that the Attachments Directory (marker 1 below) and Temp Directory (marker 2 below) are set on every profile.

For Expense User, this will allow Expense attachments (for example receipts) to be included with Expense Claims. For Sales User, this will allow Opportunity and Activity attachments to be loaded into SAP Business One.

SAP Business One Attachments Directory Security

The SAP Business One Attachments directory is used by advanced Portal features. Ensure the SAP Business One Attachments directory security is set properly to allow the Service to load attachments into SAP Business One.

Typically, write permissions must be granted for the user “NETWORK SERVICE”. The user can be confirmed by viewing the B1WebAPI Application Pool details in IIS, as shown below.

Ensure the IIS user has Modify (write) permissions. The screenshot below shows the user NETWORK SERVICE, but this should be confirmed for each installation. Because SAP Business One files are updated by B1WebAPI and not an individual Portal website, this is the Application Pool to view for any attachments that need to be accessible in B1.

Web Config using InterConnect Manager Add-On for SAP Business One

The settings below can be found in SAP Business One under the menu option: InterConnect Manager AddOn > Administration > Employee Portal Setup. Note that this is minimal configuration, and additional options may be applicable to your installation.

For a field-by-field description of other optional Employee Portal Web Config settings, see Technical Reference: Employee Portal Web Config Reference

1. Set Employee Portal Web Address on the General Tab (see marker 2 below). This will ensure future configuration settings can be applied to the web from B1.

   

Configure SMTP Details if email notifications are desired

Email notifications can be used to alert Employee Portal users of actions awaiting their attention, or actions taken by another user. For example, Expense User managers need to approve pending expenses, while back-office staff can be notified when Sales Users place orders on the web.

SMTP setup is required before emails can be sent by Employee Portal. Below is a description of the fields needed to configure an SMTP connection using InterConnect Manager Add-On.

To open the Employee Portal SMTP settings, In SAP Business One, go to: InterConnect Manager AddOn > Administration > Employee Portal Config.

Generally, your IT staff will be able to provide credentials to connect to an SMTP email provider. A full description of each field can be found in Employee Portal Web Configuration Options - Email Setup.

What’s Next?

Once installation and basic configuration has been applied and Logging has been configured, visit the Administrator’s Guides. These provide walkthroughs of advanced configuration and admin tasks.

• Employee Portal Administrator’s Guide
• Sales User Administrator’s Guide
• Expense User Administrator’s Guide