MORE INFORMATION
In a typical standalone Visual SourceSafe installation, an administrator
installs Visual SourceSafe on a network server to which all users have
access. The Server Setup is the only installation required. Nothing needs
to be installed by individual users. Instead, all users can run Visual
SourceSafe directly from the server.
However, you must install the integration option directly on your own hard
disk if you want to integrate Visual SourceSafe directly into the
Integrated Development Environment (IDE) of Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0
(Enterprise and Professional Editions) or Microsoft Developer Studio, which
includes Visual C++, Visual FORTRAN, and Visual Test. To integrate Visual
SourceSafe with an IDE, the Visual SourceSafe server installation must be
performed first. The IDE and the Visual SourceSafe client can then be
installed in any order. See Section 1.2 for more information.
If you have installed Visual SourceSafe 4.0 and need to perform an
additional installation on the same computer, the SETUP program displays
the installation maintenance program dialog box. This program enables you
to install only those portions you need, repeat the most recent
installation, or remove the previously installed Visual SourceSafe
installation.
Creating a Visual SourceSafe Installation on a Server
If Visual SourceSafe has not been installed at your site, run the Setup.exe
program on the Visual SourceSafe disk. Setup asks for the directory in
which to install Visual SourceSafe. Choose a directory on your network,
such as R:\Vss, that is accessible to everyone who will be using Visual
SourceSafe. From the Setup options, choose the Server Setup option.
After the Setup program is finished, you have a complete Visual SourceSafe
installation on your network, ready to use.
Using NETSETUP to Integrate Visual SourceSafe with Integrated
Development Environments
After an administrator has created a Visual SourceSafe installation on the
server, users can perform a client setup to install Visual SourceSafe
directly on their own hard disks. This action integrates Visual SourceSafe
with their personal copies of Integrated Development Environments (IDEs),
including Visual Basic 4.0 (Enterprise and Professional editions) and/or
Microsoft Developer Studio, which includes Visual C++, Visual Fortran, and
Visual Test.
You run the Netsetup.exe program from the directory in which the Visual
SourceSafe server was installed. To perform a network client installation,
specify a new directory on your computer's hard disk, such as C:\Vss, as
the location of the Visual SourceSafe client.
If you run Netsetup in an environment with an existing Visual SourceSafe
client installation, use the installation maintenance program. This program
gives you the choice of reinstalling the most recent installation or
removing the previously installed components.
After the Netsetup program is finished, you have a miniature Visual
SourceSafe installation on your computer's hard disk. The executables are
there, but they point to the main database on the server. In addition, your
computer is configured to allow you to use Visual SourceSafe from directly
inside Microsoft Visual Basic 4.0 or Microsoft Developer Studio.
You might see a "File not found" error message during the netsetup
procedure if the Visual SourceSafe server setup was installed by using the
Custom setup option. For example, the administrator installing Visual
SourceSafe might have chosen not to install certain non-essential files,
such as the help system, the online version of the user's guide, or the
integration macros. In these cases, you can ignore the message and continue
with the netsetup. If any of the essential files, such as the Visual
SourceSafe executable program or the database, are missing, contact your
administrator.
Using the Custom Setup Option
When installing Visual SourceSafe to a server, you can choose the Custom
setup option. This option is useful in many situations, such as the
following:
- You have limited disk space and want to save space by not installing
certain options, such as the online books or the integration macros.
- You installed Visual SourceSafe but are unable to use it with Visual
Basic because you have not performed a client or netsetup installation.
You can integrate your installation with Visual Basic by using the
Custom installation option and clicking the checkbox for Visual Basic
and Microsoft Developer Studio Registration.
- You want to have a private Visual SourceSafe database on your own hard
disk. You can install your own database by using the Custom installation
option and clicking the Create SourceSafe Database option.
Upgrading a Previous SourceSafe Installation
If you have an older version of SourceSafe on your server, use the Visual
SourceSafe Server Setup to install Visual SourceSafe 4.0 directly on top of
the existing SourceSafe installation. Visual SourceSafe creates its new
directory structure, converts your database to the new format if necessary,
and installs the new executables so that you can run Visual SourceSafe 4.0
with all your existing users, projects, and files intact.
Notes about upgrading:
- Back up your SourceSafe database before upgrading. The installation
process converts your existing database into a new format. If there are
problems during this process, there is no way to return to your previous
database without a backup.
- Make sure all users exit SourceSafe before installing a new version.
- If users have copies of the SourceSafe executables on their computer's
hard disks, they need to use the Network Setup to copy the new
SourceSafe over the old, after the server setup is completed.
- The SourceSafe directory structure and filenames have changed for Visual
SourceSafe 4.0. For this reason, the icons in your Windows Program
Manager for SourceSafe 3.x will not work with Visual SourceSafe 4.0.
New icons are installed during the setup process, pointing to the
correct new program locations.
The Installation Maintenance Program
When you run the Setup program in a Visual SourceSafe 4.0 server
environment with a current installation of Visual SourceSafe 4.0, you run
the installation maintenance program. You can run the Setup program from
the Setup directory, which is under the directory in which you installed
the Visual SourceSafe server. This program provides the following choices
when you run Setup in a server environment:
- Add/Remove: Click this choice to add or remove options from a list
including a Visual SourceSafe database, 16-bit or 32-bit versions,
Visual Basic and Microsoft C++ registration, Help files and online
version of the User's Guide, integration macros, conversion utilities,
and the network client setup.
- Reinstall: Click this choice to repeat the last installation of Visual
SourceSafe and restore missing files and settings.
- Remove All: Click this choice to remove all previously installed
components.
When you run SETUP in a Visual SourceSafe 4.0 client environment, your
options are Reinstall and Remove All.
After the Installation
After Visual SourceSafe has been properly set up on the network for the
first time, the Visual SourceSafe administrator should run the Visual
SourceSafe Admin program to create a list of users. Add each user who will
run Visual SourceSafe to the list. Whenever possible, users' Visual
SourceSafe names should be the same as their Windows NT, Windows 95, or
network names.
Once users have been added, they can immediately begin running Visual
SourceSafe from the server or from their computer's hard disk if they have
performed a network client setup.
Uninstalling Visual SourceSafe
To uninstall Visual SourceSafe (remove exising components or the Visual
SourceSafe program and database itself), run the Setup program from the
Setup directory, which is under the directory in which you installed the
Visual SourceSafe server. This action displays the installation maintenance
program.
To remove specific components, click Add/Remove. The setup program displays
the Maintenance Mode dialog box containing a list of options.
To remove the entire Visual SourceSafe program, click Remove All. Then
follow the directions on the screen.
For the uninstall procedure to complete successfully, run the Setup program
on the same platform you used to install Visual SourceSafe. For example,
run the Setup program under Windows 3.1 to uninstall Visual SourceSafe if
you installed Visual SourceSafe on a Windows 3.1 system; run the Setup
program on Windows NT if you installed Visual SourceSafe on a Windows NT
system.
When you run the uninstall procedure, certain critical files are maintained
to protect against accidental deletion. The \Data directory is preserved,
and if users have been added to the installation, the \Users directories
for users and files created by the Ssadmin program are also preserved. In
addition, the Setup directory, the Srcsafe.ini file, the Users.txt file,
and Mscreate.dir are preserved. All other files are deleted. If you run the
uninstall procedure and find that you need to reinstall Visual SourceSafe,
reinstall back to the same location. Only customizations to the Ss.ini
files for the guest and admin users are lost.
When you want to completely uninstall Visual SourceSafe, run the uninstall
procedure. Then, from the MS-DOS shell, use the DELTREE command to delete
the directory in which you installed Visual SourceSafe and all the
directories remaining under it.