I have installed the newest version of Connect Designer Professional (ver 2025.2.1.27910), but when I open a job the Database Connection begins initializing and does not complete. I need to cancel the connection to proceed.
Any insight would be appreciated.
Hi @rdaneel72,
Initializing the database refers to:
Migration only happens the first time you start the designer after a fresh installation or after updating to a newer version. That can be quite slow (minutes), especially for a fresh installation.
In older versions of Connect database initialization was a blocking operation during startup, so if migration kicked in you would see the splash screen for a very long time with no indication as to what the designer was doing.
We added that progress bar for two reasons:
Clicking Cancel allows you to work with the designer sooner. This allows you to edit templates, but you might not be able to print since that requires a database connection.
I assume in your case it was still working on migration. In that case you should not see that progress dialog the second time you start the designer. Edit: You should also be able to see the migration steps in the designer log.
However, in theory it could also mean that there was a database connection issue that caused the process to hang. I’m not aware of any known issues that could cause that, but I cannot rule it out completely.
Thank you, Sander, for this explanation.
Is the database Designer is trying to connect to on my workstation (where Designer is installed) or on the server where Workflow lives? Designer does “see” Workflow. Will I be able to send templates to Workflow even while the database is initializing?
I guess I should just leave Designer open and let this process happen.
The Designer “see” the Workflow via OL Connect Messenger. That is also this app that sends your Template to Workflow.
I’ll let @Sander confirm wether the initialisation would block Template or Datamapper sending to Workflow.
You should still be able to send templates to Workflow.
I would only expect you to see that progress dialog once, after installing Connect. Seeing it every time you start the Designer is a red flag. In that case I suggest that you examine the Designer log.
The database we are talking about here is configured during installation and normally lives on the workstation where the Designer is installed. You can also configure the database connection here:
It is used by Connect Server to persist resources and register output artifacts (content items, etc.). This happens when a client generates output, or when a client sends resources to Connect Server.
I believe I have discovered my issue, but I don’t know how to fix it.
When opening the OL Server Configuration tool, I received this error.
I assume the issue is related to the fact that I was logged in under my admin user when installing Connect Designer, but as my normal user when using Designer. When I logged in again as admin, the database initialization did not happen when I loaded a template in Designer.
How can I remedy this situation? I also have 3 other co-workers I need to update to the latest version, and I must be logged in as my admin ID to install, but they need to be able to access Designer under their user IDs.
I just installed the earlier version on all these workstations a few months ago. I wish I could remember how I avoided this issue.
Any insight would be appreciated.
I suggest you open a technical support ticket through our website.
Better an agent go through this with you to properly provide help.
Thank you. I will do that.
Perhaps not being logged in as the same user as the server config is NOT the issue, as 2 of my coworkers can open a template in Designer without the database initialization starting. These are older versions of Designer, so I assume the database connection was made when Designer was installed several months ago.
But neither of them are able to open the Server Config, either. But that makes sense since they are not logged in as my admin user, which is the user Designer was installed under.
I did put in a support ticket, but in the meantime I will leave Designer running and see if the database eventually connects. Perhaps I am being too impatient.
The Server Configuration is indeed restricted to the account under which Connect was installed.
The below error is shown when trying to launch the Server Configuration application under a different user as the one under which the OL Connect Server was installed.
Server Engine Preference Files Missing
Unable to locate the Server Engine Preferences Files.
Please ensure the server engine and the configuration tool are running under the same username.
[OK]
A possible way to avoid this error is by executing the following steps instead of launching the Server Configuration application directly: