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How to use our "self-service" maintenance and recovery tool

Please Note: This article does not apply if your MIDAS system is currently cloud-hosted by us

If you're moving your room booking system to a new server, or have inadvertently locked yourself out the software, we've now produced a helpful online self-service tool to help get you quickly back up and running!

This tool is useful if:

  • You need to modify the database server/details that your MIDAS system uses (for example, if you're migrating to a different MySQL/MariaDB server).
  • Your domain name is changing.
  • You need to relocate MIDAS to another server.
  • You've forced your MIDAS system into SSL mode and now can't get back in.
  • You've limited the IP addresses which are allowed to access your MIDAS system, and have locked yourself out.
  • You've enabled Two-Factor Authentication, yet the software isn't correctly configured to send email, so no-one can login.
If any of the above apply to you, our self-service tool should have your MIDAS system back up and running in no time!

To use the tool, you'll first need to locate the "midas.dat" file (which you'll find on your server in the location where MIDAS was installed) if you're running MIDAS v4.22 or later, or the "midasglobal.dat" file in you're running an earlier version of our software.

You can then load this file into our self-service tool, change your settings, and generate a replacement file, which you can then upload back to your server to apply the changes.

When you use our self-service tool, it will offer you one or more of the following options (depending upon your MIDAS software version and current configuration):

Modify the database server/details my MIDAS system uses

Selecting this option will list all of the databases currently associated with your MIDAS system, along with each database's current settings (expect for the database password, which is not displayed for security reasons).

From here you can then update the database server (Host), database name, database username, and user password for each of your MIDAS databases (leaving the database password field empty will retain the current database password).

NOTE: If moving to a different MySQL/MariaDB server, you will first need to export your existing MIDAS database(s) from the current server, and then import them into your new database server before using this tool.

Modify the outgoing email settings my MIDAS uses

Selecting this option will allow you to update the outgoing email settings your MIDAS system uses for sending email.

Change my MIDAS server Path/URL

If you need to relocate your installation of MIDAS to a different server, you will need firstly copy your entire MIDAS installation across to the new server (as well as your MIDAS MySQL/MariaDB databases - if applicable). Please ensure that when copying files between servers that existing file permissions are also copied across.

Once you've moved everything across, you'll then need to use our self-service tool to update the following settings in your midas.dat or midasglobal.dat file:

  • Your New Server Path - The full server path to where MIDAS resides on your new server (examples: /public_html/midas, or C:/inetpub/wwwroot/midas)
  • Your New MIDAS URL - The URL which correlates to the above Server Path. (examples: yournewdomain.com/midas/)
  • Your New Support Files URL - In most cases this option won't be shown. However, if you originally installed the "Support Files" for MIDAS (images, etc) to a different location to the main program files, you will be able to specify the URL to the location of these files on your new server here.

Add/Change Proxy Server URL

If your server connects to the internet via a proxy, you can specify the address of the proxy server your MIDAS system should use when establishing external connections (i.e. to check for updates). If your server doesn't connect via a proxy, leave this field empty.

Stop enforcing SSL

If you've forced your MIDAS system to use SSL (https), and there's a problem with your server's SSL certificate, you may be unable to access your MIDAS. This option restores access to your MIDAS system over a normal http connection.

Stop restricting access by IP

If you've restricted the IP address/range that is allowed to access your MIDAS system, and your device's IP falls outside of that address/range, you will be unable to access MIDAS. This option removes all IP restrictions allowing you to access your MIDAS system again.

Disable Two-Factor Authentication

If you've enabled Two-Factor Authentication (MIDAS v4.10 or later) yet have not correctly configured the software to be able to send emails, then no-one will be able to login to your system until Two-Factor Authentication is disabled and/or you've corrected the software's email settings. If you're unable to login due to this, this option disables two-factor authentication allowing you to regain access your MIDAS system again.

WARNING: Incorrect settings when using our self-service tool may prevent your MIDAS from running. Always backup your current midasglobal.dat file before proceeding.

Proceed to our secure online self-service tool

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MIDAS » KB » Support » Article 00054

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