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Starting the server

The MD Link Server can be run three ways: as a Windows service, by invoking the server startup program from a shell, or from the Windows start menu. The first way is recommended when running MD Link under Windows. The second is the only way to run MD Link on Unix. The third way is not recommended for production use, but is still offered for convenience.

The server has no GUI, but it may emit console (i.e. text) output, depending on how it is invoked.

Method 1: As a Windows Service

This is the recommended way to run the MD Link server for production use under Windows. (By 'service' we refer to the familiar list of system services that can be found via Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Services, or by running the program services.msc at the start menu or a command prompt.) This method of starting the MD Link server has the many conveniences general to all Windows services, namely: easy and central stopping and starting capability, and login account options. However, running MD Link Server as a Windows service requires additional installation steps.

Following are the installation steps required to run the MD Link Server as a Windows service. You will need Administrator access for this. The following instructions assume that you will be running the MD Link service under the same account that you normally log in as, but can be modified to use another account if desired.

First, install MD Link normally. Then be sure to enter your license key, either during installation or by going to MD Link's start menu subgroup and running Enter License Key.
Go to MD Link's start menu subgroup and run program Windows Service - Install item found there.
There are also some properties specific to the MD Link service that need to be set up. To configure these:
- Open the Windows Services console (either via Start Menu > Control Panel > Classic View > Administrative Tools > Services, or by running the program services.msc at the start menu or a command prompt)
- Find MD Link in the list of services. (If you have more than one version of MD Link installed on your machine, be sure to select the correct version.)
- Right click on the MD Link service and select Properties.
- Under the General tab: if you want the MD Link service to start automatically at boot time, change the 'Startup time' option here to Automatic. (If you have more than one version of MD Link installed on your machine, then you should make sure that only one MD Link service is set to Automatic at any time.)
- Under the Log On tab: here you must choose the user account that the MD Link server is to run under. Initially this will be set to the Local System account, but this is undesirable because that account probably doesn't have access to the same files and network ports that you will need it to have. So for this option, enter the same user name and password that you use for logging into Windows generally. (If you are considering running the service as a user other than the one that you normally log in as and installed MD Link as, you should note that the MD Link service will be using the same data folder as the Studio and other programs, and thus the service user needs full file permissions to the contents of that directory.)
- Click OK to close the service properties window.
You may now start the MD Link service if desired, presuming you have already entered your license key. Right-click on the MD Link service and select Start.

Verify that the MD Link service is running by opening the MD Link Monitor from the start menu. If the default server node on the left (pointing to the localhost and the default MD Link port) appears as green, then the MD Link server-as-service is running.

Method 2: By invoking the server startup program directly

The executable file for running the MD Link server directly is under MD Link's bin directory. It is named server.exe under Windows and simply server under Unix. One can run these from a shell / command prompt, or from another script.

These programs will print many log mesages to the standard output by default. This can be a performance hindrance in extreme cases. One can reduce these using the --stdoutlogfilterlevel command-line argument. For example:

server --stdoutlogfilterlevel=WARN

will reduce the number of log messages printed. Alternately,

server --stdoutlogfilterlevel=NO_ECHO_AT_ALL

will suppress log message echoing entirely.

(This option does not affect the writing of log messages to disk.)

Method 3: From the Windows start menu

This is a simple way to start the Server. A console window will appear, and log messages will appear in it. (This method runs the same program as method #2 - it is simply a shortcut.) Though convenient for testing, this method of starting the server is not recommended for production use for two reasons:

All log messages produces by the server will be printed to this console window. This will be a major performance bottleneck in high-traffic scenarios.
Accidentally pressing a key such as Ctrl-C while this console window is selected will cause the server program to exit.