Installation & Setup Instructions

Fishbowl Inventory complete install needs to be downloaded and installed on the server. The same installer is used for each user’s work station however only the client portion should be installed. A license key is not required to install the client portion.

The client install can connect to the server through a VPN connection so users are able to work from home or the store front etc. Recently Fishbowl Inventory Co. added a feature to make updating the client easier, however it only works properly if a client only install exists.

 The Fishbowl Server works best when installed and running on the same machine as the QuickBooks server manager is running on.  Because Fishbowl Inventory integrates with and constantly sends data over to QuickBooks it’s best to have these to programs running side by side. To many things can go wrong if the Quick Books Server manager and the Fishbowl Server are installed on separate machines.

Because of this delicate integration it is also best to have the Fishbowl database close by, if not on the same hard drive. We have found that the connection works great for many customers when the Fishbowl live database is stored on a separate hard drive.

This might be a change for some who are used to storing their QuickBooks database a little further way. The new focus needs to be on the communication between the QuickBooks and Fishbowl Inventory databases.

Fishbowl Inventory has an automatic backup feature that sends backups to an internal or external drive.