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Recommended Lacerte settings for users in a Citrix or terminal server environment

by Intuit• Updated 4 weeks ago

This article explains how to operate Lacerte in a terminal server environment, including the recommended settings.

Using Lacerte in a terminal server environment

There are some important differences between using the program in a terminal server as opposed to a traditional server/workstation environment. Below are the recommended settings for using Lacerte in a terminal server environment:

  • Install the program locally on the terminal server using the steps in this article.
    • Each user accessing the terminal server will be running the program from this install. Because of this, all users must be out of the program to perform an update. To minimize downtime, we recommend scheduling updates to install after hours, when no one is in the program.
  • In Primary Options, set and apply the following user options to ensure coordinated updates:
    • On the Setup tab, in the Program Options section, turn off Lacerte Update Notification.
    • In Trustee Rights, remove Lacerte Updates rights for the Default Rights user, as well as all other users, except the program administrator.
  • In Primary Options, make the following changes for optimized performance and stability:
    • Change Show Input Warnings in the Detail tab to No in Program Options on the Setup tab.

Lacerte update schedule

During tax season, Lacerte updates are on a twice a week release schedule and update on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Out-of-season updates are scheduled once a week on Wednesdays.

  • Early in season, there are typically more updates due to form approvals.
  • Occasionally, e-filed returns will be rejected with instructions that they can't be e-filed until the program is updated. In that case, you'll need to wait for the program update to e-file.

Recommended update schedule

  • Use the steps in this article to set the Lacerte Update Scheduler to download updates once a week on Friday.
    • This captures all updates for the week.
    • You can also set it to check for updates nightly.
  • Once updates have been downloaded and pushed to the Setup folder, users will be prompted to install the update as they either exit or enter the program.

Before you start

  • Before performing the install, you'll need to know the following information:
    • The mapped drive for the Shared File Path where the options and setup files will be stored.
    • The mapped drive for the Data Path, if different from the Shared File Path.
  • All users must be out of the program for the following changes to take effect, so we recommend making these changes after hours, when no users are in the program.

Step 1 - Turn off Lacerte update notifications:

  1. From the Settings menu, select Primary Options.
  2. Go to the Setup tab.
  3. Under the Program Options section, set Lacerte Update Notification setting to Disabled.
  4. Click OK.
  5. In Confirmation window, make sure the Update Method is Current changes only and click Yes.
  6. An informational window will appear stating that all users must be out of the program for the changes to take effect. Don't click OK until you have verified all users are out of the program.
    • This change is module specific and will need to be made in each module.

Step 2 - Remove the trustee right to download updates:

  1. From the Settings menu, select Primary Options.
  2. Go to the Trustee Rights tab.
  3. Delete the checkmark next to Lacerte Updates for the Default Rights user and each user listed.
    • This will prevent non-administrator users from downloading updates.
  4. Click OK.
  5. In Confirmation window, make sure the Update Method is Current changes only and click Yes.
  6. An informational window will appear stating that all users must be out of the program for the changes to take effect. Don't click OK until you have verified all users are out of the program.
    • This change is module specific and will need to be made in each module.

Step 3 - Make performance recommendation changes:

  1. From the Settings menu, select Primary Options.
  2. Go to the Setup tab.
  3. Under the Program Options section, set the Show Input Warnings in the Detail Tab setting to No.
  4. Click OK.
  5. In Confirmation window, make sure the Update Method is Current changes only and click Yes.
  6. An informational window will appear stating that all users must be out of the program for the changes to take effect. Don't click OK until you have verified all users are out of the program.
    • This change is module specific and will need to be made in each module.

Users are stating that their individual user options are changing on them. This can happen when users are remoting into Lacerte from another server. This causes the program to record the computer name as being the same for multiple users. To resolve this issue, the terminal server administrator needs to follow these steps to make sure that the computer name is unique for each user’s profile:

  1. In each users' %appdata%\Lacerte\ folder, query the LacerteHostName.ini.
  2. Make sure that the line that shows MachineName is unique for each user.
    • If it isn't, then edit each users' MachineName so that it's unique.

After this change has been made, users should no longer be stepping on each other’s settings when changing options.

If users are prompted to update outside the scheduled times, check the following:

  1. Make sure users aren't changing their System File Path to a local drive. This commonly occurs for users who are on laptops and take them out into the field. It's recommended users don't perform any updates while off the network.
  2. Check Trustee Rights in Primary Options and make sure that verify for all users, except the program administrator, that they don't have rights to check for updates.
  3. Make sure the Update Scheduler is set to the correct update schedule.
  4. If the Update Scheduler isn’t downloading updates when scheduled, check the firewall. Change whether updsched.exe is allowed to access the internet (as needed).

Users are getting a message stating that all of the user licenses are in use, which is preventing them from opening the program. This occurs when there's one central install of the tax program. However, data and options are broken out by different regions or offices.

To resolve this issue, each Option Path should have all prep files installed so the total number of user licenses can be added together. Follow the steps in this article to install multiple prep files.

This process will need to be repeated in each separate option folder.

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