Use Interbase Developer license on 2 Windows PCs?

[GrumpyNoMore 0]

I am a hobby developer. I run Delphi 11 Community Edition with FireDAC components accessing an Interbase DB under a Developer license. I have Interbase Server, hosting the database, running on an old laptop on our home network. I have Interbase Client installed on my PC. this is the machine I have used to develop an app to track our vegetable gardening efforts. My wife wants to have the app on her PC also, to access and edit the Interbase data. I have installed Interbase Client and the app on her PC but I keep getting an error whenever the app loads and tries to connect to the Interbase server:

 

[FireDAC][Phys][IB] Unable to complete network request to host "<wife's PC hostname>/3050"

Failed to establish a connection.

No connection could be made because the target machine actively refused it.

 

Presumably that means her machine needs a license applied, but I have been unable to apply the Developer license to her machine successfully.

 

It seems strange if Interbase Client can only be installed on one machine under the Developer license, since you often need to test things like file locking and simultaneous access by multiple users. Am I doing it wrong? Is there a workaround? Do I need to get a separate Developer license for my wife? We are not in a position to pay for a commercial license just to track which variety of carrots did better in the wicking beds.

 

Thanks in advance people!

[haentschman 92]

Hi...

If you can...change to Firebird. The "mother" of Firebird (many years ago) is Interbase. The licence is free.

https://firebirdsql.org/en/server-packages/

Edited March 27 by haentschman

[Brian Evans 83]

Quote

Unable to complete network request to host "<wife's PC hostname>/3050"

Shouldn't you be trying to connect to the Laptop PC's hostname? The error seems more network related - as if no connection could be made to port 3050 on the target PC. 

Edited March 27 by Brian Evans

[Uwe Raabe 1890]

10 hours ago, GrumpyNoMore said:

It seems strange if Interbase Client can only be installed on one machine under the Developer license

Actually that is not the case. The developer license is needed for the Interbase Server, while the Client doesn't need a license - only access to the Interbase Server (i.e. the server PC has to be up and running and the client needs to establish a connection to it).

 

Regarding the Firebird suggestion: Don't try to install Firebird (Server or Client) on a PC where Interbase already is installed unless you know exactly what you are doing. Most likely you will break at least one of these installations.

 

 

[Hans J. Ellingsgaard 19]

You will need to open port 3050 in the firewall on the server.

[GrumpyNoMore 0]

On 3/27/2024 at 4:50 PM, Brian Evans said:

Shouldn't you be trying to connect to the Laptop PC's hostname? The error seems more network related - as if no connection could be made to port 3050 on the target PC. 

The connection is indeed to the Interbase Server PC (laptop). That is what puzzles me about the error message. I am assuming it is referring to Interbase Client on my wife's machine rejecting the call and not even passing it through to the server. The connection parameters specify the Interbase Server, and the Database on the server, and specifies port 3050, and yet the error message names the client machine not the server.

[GrumpyNoMore 0]

On 3/27/2024 at 10:20 PM, Uwe Raabe said:

Actually that is not the case. The developer license is needed for the Interbase Server, while the Client doesn't need a license - only access to the Interbase Server (i.e. the server PC has to be up and running and the client needs to establish a connection to it).

 

Regarding the Firebird suggestion: Don't try to install Firebird (Server or Client) on a PC where Interbase already is installed unless you know exactly what you are doing. Most likely you will break at least one of these installations.

 

 

Thanks for the warning about Firebird, I was not relishing the idea of porting the app from Interbase to Firebird and was planning to do that only as a last desperate resort.

 

Re your comment about Client not needing a license... That was my original assumption, but I have not been able to get Interbase Client to connect to the Server on any machine other than my own Dev machine. Is there something I should be including in my Deployment settings, or some configuration in Interbase Server that will let the connection request through?

[GrumpyNoMore 0]

On 3/28/2024 at 7:47 AM, Hans J. Ellingsgaard said:

You will need to open port 3050 in the firewall on the server.

Port 3050 is definitely open on the server, but thanks for the suggestion. My own PC connects to the server through port 3050 with no problem.

[tgbs 10]

Mixing different versions of client dll and server also give such error. Use a monitor to see what dll your wife's computer is loading