Once you have SQL server and SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) installed, you will create a new blank database. The SQL Server requirements help article outlines the steps for installing SQL server and SSMS.
Using SSMS, create a new blank database. This can be on an existing server or a new one. The name of the database doesn’t really matter as long as you can distinguish it from other databases that may be on the server. We see ‘Farm’, ‘MGR’, ‘MGRFarm’, and ‘<CompanyName>Farm’ used most often. The default database settings will all work with MGR. The only items you may want to change is what folder you want the data to be in and where backups should be placed.
The user that creates the database will be the database owner. We need at least one database owner to create the database as well as converting the Access data and creating the mgr-sql link file. This can be done by any user’s accounts. Be aware that the AgWare tools will need to be run as this user. You can either:
- install MGR on the server and run as the same user OR
- install MGR on IT admin computers and ensure that the admin’s desktop user is a db_owner of the new database.
Here is a detailed article from MS SQL Tips on how to create a database.