Error: "Machine Name not Unique" when opening Tax or MAS from AE Practice Manager on a Terminal Server environment

This support note applies to:

AE Practice Manager (AU)
Profiles (AU)
AE MAS (AU)
AE Tax Series 6 & 8 (AU)
AE Tax (AU)

These instructions require technical expertise

Make sure you know what you're doing and are using one of the products listed. If you're not sure, ask your IT professional or MYOB.

Article ID: 33431

When opening MYOB AE in a Terminal Server environment, you may experience the error "Machine Name not Unique".

Each workstation using MYOB AE must be identified by its own unique machine name. When MYOB AE detects that the machine name is already in use, it triggers the above error. For example, when all users log onto the same Terminal Server.

You can resolve this error by following the three steps. This will allow MYOB AE to identify users by their windows username instead of their machine name.

Prior to commencing these steps, we recommend that you have file extensions turned on. Step-by-step instructions are available in Viewing hidden files, folders and drives or enabling file extensions in Windows.

1. Create the MYOBAE.cmd file

Open My Computer and browse to the drive where the SOL64 or TAX folder is located.

For details of how to determine the location of your SOL64 folder please refer to Finding the SOL64 or Tax directory.
Right-click in the drive and from the New menu select Text Document.
Change the name of the New Text Document.txt to MYOBAE.cmd and press ENTER. The MYOBAE.cmd file is created.
Right-click the MYOBAE.cmd file and select Edit. The MYOBAE.cmd file opens.

Copy the following script and paste it into the MYOBAE.cmd

If you're using a...	Copy and paste this script into the MYOBAO.cmd file
32-bit operating system	@ECHO OFF SET CLIENTNAME=%USERNAME% start "MYOB AE" "C:\Program Files\MYOB\Central\Deploy\ClientFrameWork.exe"
64-bit operating system	@ECHO OFF SET CLIENTNAME=%USERNAME% start "MYOB AE" "C:\Program Files (x86)\MYOB\Central\Deploy\ClientFrameWork.exe"

The script is pasted into the MYOBAE.cmd file.

From the File menu select Exit and save your changes to the file. The MYOBAE.cmd is now saved.

2. Create the desktop shortcut

Right-click the MYOBAE.cmd file created above, and from the Send to menu select Desktop. A shortcut is created on the Windows desktop.
On the Windows desktop, right-click the Shortcut to MYOBAE.cmd file and select Properties. The Shortcut to MYOBAE.cmd Properties window opens.
Click the Change Icon button. The Change Icon window appears.
Click the Browse button and navigate to your Central share folder.
Locate and select the ClientFrameWork.exe file and click Open. The icon image file appears in the Change Icon window.
Click OK twice. The Shortcut to MYOBAE.cmd now displays the ClientFrameWork.exe icon.
Right-click the MYOBAE.cmd file and select Rename. The name becomes editable.
Change the icon name to MYOB AEand press ENTER on the keyboard. The name of the desktop icon now displays as MYOB AE.

3. Copy the desktop icon to all user desktops

Right-click the new MYOB AE desktop icon and select Copy. The icon is copied.
Right-click the Windows Start button and select Explore All Users. The All Users Start Menu appears.
Select the Desktop folder in the left-hand navigation pane. The contents of the All Users Desktop folder appear in the right-hand pane.

Alternatively, from Windows Explorer you can navigate to C:\Users\All Users\Desktop.
Delete the existing MYOB AE shortcut. The shortcut is deleted.
Right-click in the All Users Desktop folder and select Paste. The MYOB AE desktop icon appears in the folder.
Click Close. The All Users Desktop folder closes.

The batch file created appears on all users' desktops when they log onto the Terminal Server. When users log into MYOBAE using the new shortcut, MYOBAE will recognise their Windows Username instead of the computer name of the Terminal Server.

If this does not resolve the error right-click on the icon and select Run as Administrator.