Home > Products > Knowledge Base addins > Installation Guide – Team Edition

Install Steps

It typically takes not more than 2 minutes to perform an admin install, and just less than a minute to make a simple client install to each user’s system.

Team Knowledge base consists of two separate installs – Admin and User. The admin installation is to be done by the manager to configure the team specific KB settings such as defining drop down lists, choosing KB folders that store the KB articles.

(Note that, the Admin install already consists of the User tool too, so you don’t need to install the User tool separately.)

There are two different setup types:

For ‘Per user Installation’

  • TeamKnowledgebaseSetups_x86.zip (for 32-bit Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)
  • TeamKnowledgebaseSetups_x64.zip (for 64-bit Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)

For ‘Per Machine Installation’

  • TeamKnowledgebaseSetups_x86_Citrix.zip (for 32-bit Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)
  • TeamKnowledgebaseSetups_x64_Citrix.zip (for 64-bit Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)

The downloaded zip file contains 3 files – TeamKBAdminSetup_xXX.exe, TeamKBUserSetup_xXX.exe and VersionInfo.txt where ‘xXX’ can be either x86 (32-bit Outlook) or x64 (64-bit Outlook)

Extract these file contents to a file folder. It is recommended that you place the setup files on a shared network folder, such that all users can have access to it, and ease the installation and upgrade process.

NOTE: Per User Installation and Per Machine Installation

In Per User Installation, both the Admin and Client installs are performed 100% on the local system and nothing is installed on your Exchange or Windows Server. Further, this install is intended to serve only the current logged on user of the system/workstation and will be installed under the user’s application data folder (instead of Programs Files folder) and no elevated permission is required (This is known as per user installation). So, there won’t be a prompt from UAC to allow this install unless you change the install directory to say, Programs Files which will warrant an elevated permission/UAC prompt. If the same system is used by multiple users, each user needs to install the add-in on their profile with the default installation folder location.

Per Machine Installation: If you have the need to have a single install that serves all users of the system (i.e., per machine installation, which technically means the files will be installed under Program files folder and the add-in will be registered under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE registry hive rather than HKEY_CURRENT_USER), download the Citrix/Terminal Server version of the setups to perform a per machine installation.

Part I: Admin add-in     Part II: User Add-in


Part-I:
Admin Installation and Configuration

The managerial installation has to be performed by the administrator/manager before the User tool is installed on every other systems.

The Admin setup is of two different types – one each for 32 bit Outlook and 64 bit Outlook

For Per User Installation:
TeamKBAdminSetup_x86.exe (for 32-bit Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)
TeamKBAdminSetup_x64.exe (for 64-bit Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)

 For Per Machine Installation:
TeamKBAdminSetup_x86_Citrix.exe (for 32-bit Outlook 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)
TeamKBAdminSetup_x64_Citrix.exe (for 64-bit Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)

A) Files Installation

Step 1. Run the TeamKBAdminSetup_xXX.exe to start the installation. Click ‘Next‘ to Continue. If Outlook 2010 or later is not installed, the setup wizard will not be able to proceed. Please also ensure Outlook is shutdown (if already running or active in the task manager) as the setup has to install an Outlook add-in.

Step 2. Select the appropriate destination folder where the application files will be installed. If you change the default folder path, please make sure you have appropriate permission. (Note: by default, it will be installed under your application data folder)

Step 3. Click ‘Next’ to continue with the files extraction. It just takes a few minutes to complete the whole copying process

Step 4. Click ‘Finish’. This ends the files installation process in your system.

B) Database Connection & Configuration

The next step is to choose a database option and configure it to store the KB metadata such as Problem Categories/Types lists, notification options, email templates etc. as well as other global settings that streamline the behavior on how all members use and generate new KB articles in Outlook.

Start Outlook and you would be automatically prompted with the ‘KB Settings Data Source…’ panel. If it is not visible, you can invoke it from Outlook > Team KB toolbar > Team Settings menu > Configure KB Settings Data Source…

You can choose a project database between a Microsoft Access (MDB file) to a Microsoft SQL Server, or Azure SQL Database (cloud DB).

i) Using Microsoft Access – If you choose ‘Microsoft Access’, the database file (e.g., TeamKBSettings.MDB) will need to be placed on a shared network folder such that all users (that have the Team KB add-in in their Outlook) have access to the network folder. When you specify the location where the MDB file is to be created, make sure you choose a UNC path (e.g. \\AMTServer\Database) instead of a mapped one because, a mapped drive might only be accessible to you. One important consideration with having a network Access database is the write permission on the folder and the MDB file itself. Make sure, the shared folder or the MDB file is not configured ‘read-only’ for all members on the network, otherwise, they won’t be able to generate new KB articles from their respective Outlook.

ii) Using Microsoft SQL Server – It is recommended to use a dedicated SQL Server database option, if you have a high number of users (> 25) who will generate KB articles from their Outlook, as it gives a better performance and is easily scalable.

For SQL server, the server name is mandatory. The Database name is optional. If it is left empty, a new database with the name ‘TeamKBSettingsDB’ would be created. If your SQL server is configured to use windows authentication (NTLM), then you can check the ‘Use Integrity Security’ option to let Windows manager the credentials to access the resources on the SQL server.

Using Cloud based SQL Server database
You can also use cloud-based SQL server service instead of on-premise such as Amazon RDS cloud service (They offer both free and paid accounts. For more, refer to https://aws.amazon.com/rds/). For instance, below is our test MS SQL account with Amazon RDS. Once you have signed up and created a MS SQL database, input the endpoint URL as server in our app. Make sure, you suffix the port number after the endpoint as “,1433” so that the full URL in the server name would be ‘XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.rds.amazon.com,1433’.

And here is screenshot of the RDS server to use from the RDS member panel.

Permission for users on the SQL database – Each member should have both db_datareader and db_datawriter permission on the Team KB SQL database.

iii) Using Microsoft Azure SQL – Azure SQL Database is a cloud-based relational database service from Microsoft, which is based on SQL Server database. This option is ideal for team that have users scattered or working remotely in different locations but have access to the web.

NOTE: If no database name is mentioned, the manager add-in will create a new database in your Azure SQL server, by the name of ‘TeamKBSettingsDB’.

Once you click ‘Save’, the manager tool will automatically create the chosen database (if it does not exist already). And then any project metadata and other settings/drop down lists you defined from Team KB Admin add-in in Outlook would be saved in this repository.

Very Important! Make sure that you have provided the chosen database location information to all users who have or will install the Client tool (such as the network shared folder where the MDB file is located for Access database e.g. \\AMTServer\Database or the Server name in the case of SQL server database e.g. BYTESTATION\SQLEXPRESS). This is required because when user starts Outlook after installing Team KB Client add-in, it will prompt to specify the KB database location. And only then the add-in would automatically connect to the admin specified database to retrieve the KB logic and settings data to their respective local system.

Next, install the Team KB Client add-in to the systems of your other staffs. You can install the Team KB Admin add-in on other systems as well if the particular user has the need to perform administrative tasks.

C) Choose KB Folders

Before you and other users can start generating KB articles or using them in Outlook, the manager needs to choose the destination KB Folders that store the KB articles and link them up with Team KB Admin Add-in.

Once linked, you and other users would be able to use KB articles from these folders in Outlook to reply to emails, as well as generate new KB articles in one of these linked KB folders using information and content from emails in Outlook.

To choose and configure a new KB folder, go to Team Settings menu > ‘Configure KB Folders’.

Here is a listing of all KB folders containing KB articles that are linked and chosen by the administrator using the Admin Add-in tool. All your users should have access to these chosen KB folders from their Outlook (i.e., individual user would be able to generate a KB from an email to one of these folders as well as use it to reply to emails in Outlook).

To choose and configure a new KB folder, click ‘New Folder…’ button.

You will then be prompted to choose an existing folder or create a new one.

For others to have access to these KB folders, make sure you choose or create new folders that are accessible by all your staff members from their Outlook. i.e., the KB folder should either from a shared Exchange mailbox or an Exchange Public Folder.

You can re-use existing KB Folders or create new ones for this purpose.

For instance, you can create a new folder (e.g., Licensing KBs):

If you have added multiple KB folders in Team KB Admin add-in, you will notice that the ‘Raise KB in’ drop down menu shows all of them. You and other users can then simply choose the destination KB folder to which a new KB will be raised from the selected email in Outlook.

Through the Team KB Admin console, you can choose any number of KB folders so that, your users can have a choice to choose a particular KB folder of interest to which new KB from their emails can be raised from their Outlook, or more importantly, choose an existing KB article from one of the relevant KB folder to reply to an email in Outlook.

After these 3 steps, you can start installing the Team KB User add-in to the systems of your other staffs. You can also install the Team KB Admin add-in on other systems as well if the particular user has the need to perform administrative tasks.

NOTE: There are other administrative configurations that you would need to undertake. These options are available in the ‘Team Settings…’ drop down menu of the Team KB Admin toolbar or ribbon in Outlook.

For more references and helps on performing these administrative configurations, refer to the PDF Help Manual, which can be invoke from the Outlook > Team KB toolbar or ribbon > Help > Help Topics.

Part-II: User Installation and Configuration

This install is meant for users who would be accessing KB articles in Outlook and reply to emails with the contents and attachments of the chosen KB article. Before you install the User tool, make sure your administrator has already configured the KB settings and configurations on a network database with the Team KB Admin tool. And take note of the database information URL which you will need to feed to the Team KB User Add-in once it is installed. This is required because you will be asked to specify the network location of the KB settings database once you start Outlook.
The User setup is of two different types – one each for 32-bit Outlook and 64-bit Outlook:

For Per User Installation:
TeamKBUserSetup_x86.exe (for 32-bit Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)
TeamKBUserSetup_x64.exe (for 64-bit Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)

For Per Machine Installation:
TeamKBUserSetup_x86_Citrix.exe (for 32-bit-Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)
TeamKBUserSetup_x64_Citrix.exe (for 64-bit-Outlook 2010, 2013, 2016, 2019)

(Note: The User add-in and functionality is already a subpart of Admin Install and is not required to be installed if the admin tool is already installed on the system).

Step 1. Run TeamKBUserSetup_xXX.msi/exe to start the installation. Click ‘Next’ to Continue. If Outlook 2010 or later is not installed, the setup wizard will not be able to proceed.

Step 2. Select the appropriate destination folder where the application files will be installed. If you change the default folder path, please make sure you have appropriate permission.

Step 3. Click ‘Install’ to continue the files extraction. It may take a few minutes to complete the whole copying and registration process.

Step 4. Click ‘Finish‘ to end the installation wizard.

Now start Microsoft Outlook. If the Team KB User add-in installation was successful, you will see a toolbar or ribbon with the title ‘Team Knowledgebase’ toolbar in Outlook.

KB Database Connection

Once you have just installed the Team KB User tool, you will get to see this ‘Configure KB Settings Data Source’ panel when you start Outlook.

If the ‘KB Settings Data Source’ panel does not show up, you can invoke from Outlook > Team KB toolbar > My Options > Configure KB Settings Data Source

So, what is the KB Settings Data Source?
The Settings data source is nothing but a database that your administrator had created and configured under your company’s network with the Team KB Admin tool (either could be a Microsoft Access MDB file with the name ‘TeamKBSettings.mdb’ stored on a network folder or a Microsoft SQL Server database with the name ‘TeamKBSettingsDB’ located in your office network). The data source stores drop-down lists such as categories and types, email templates, notification and other configurations. In short, these are global settings that streamline the behavior on how all users raise, access and use KB articles in their Outlook.

i) Access database – If your administrator had chosen a Microsoft Access database, it would be on a shared network path (e.g. \\AMTServer\Database\). All you need to do is enter that URL path in the Access path box as shown below:One important consideration with having a network Access database is the write permission on the folder and the MDB file itself. Make sure, the shared folder or the MDB file is not configured “read-only”, otherwise, you may not able to generate new KB articles to any of the administrator chosen KB folders.

ii) SQL Server database – Another database option is the SQL server. You need to enter the server name where the database for Team KB resides. The Database name is optional only if your administrator had left it blank when configuring it the first time. If it is left empty, it would assume the default database name is “TeamKBSettingsDB”.

If your SQL server is configured to use windows authentication (NTLM), then you can check the “Use Integrity Security” option to let Windows manage the credentials to access the resources on the SQL server, otherwise, you need to supply valid credential (username and password).

Using Cloud based SQL Server database – If you administrator had configured the KB database in cloud based SQL server service such as Amazon RDS cloud service, you need to input the endpoint URL of the online server along with the suffix of the port number after the endpoint as “,1433” so that the full URL in the server name would be ‘XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX.rds.amazon.com,1433’.

And here is screenshot of the RDS server to use from the RDS member panel.

iii) Using Microsoft Azure SQL – Azure SQL Database is a cloud-based relational database service from Microsoft, which is based on SQL Server database. This option is ideal for team that have users scattered or working remotely in different locations but have access to the web.

NOTE: If the database name is left empty, it would assume the default database name is “TeamKBSettingsDB”.

Now, click the Save button, to confirm the connection. Team KB User add-in is now ready to connect to the KB Data Source to synchronize drop downs such as categories, types and other settings metadata from the database to your system.

Additional step on the SQL database
If your administrator had configured Team KB Admin add-in to store the settings and other configurations in a SQL server database, then please make sure that you have adequate permission to access and update the tables in that database i.e., db_datareader and db_datawriter permission on the Team KB SQL database.

Now, open Outlook and from the Team Knowledgebase toolbar, you will notice that the ‘New Empty KB’, ‘Raise KB in’ and ‘Navigate to KB folder’ drop down menu shows all the administrator’s chosen KB folders where the KB articles are stored. You and other users can then simply choose the destination KB folder to which a new KB will be raised from the selected email in Outlook.

You also have a choice to pick an existing KB article of interest or relevant from one of the chosen KB folder to reply to an email in Outlook.

NOTE: For more references and helps on working of Team KB and using KB articles in Outlook, refer to the PDF Help Manual, which can be invoke from Outlook > Team KB toolbar or ribbon > Help > Help Topics.