Whether you’re intending to run Mesmotronic Multiuser Server 2 on a low-cost virtual private server (VPS) or a more powerful dedicated server, chances are that it will be running Windows Server 2003.

Unlike the various desktop editions of Windows (XP, Vista and 7), you can’t simply an exception to the Windows Firewall settings or wait for the access dialogue to appear. Instead, you’ll need to update the Local Security Settings by running “secpol.msc /s” from the command line or Run… option on the Start menu; by default, Mesmotronic Multiuser Server uses port 2040 for applications and 2080 for administration.

The next step is to make the Admin Console available remotely by creating a virtual directory on one of your websites which points to the admin folder in the Mesmotronic Multiuser Server installation directory:

1. Open the Internet Information Services (IIS) Manager, found under Start > Administrative Tools
2. Expand Web Sites, in the left hand column, and click on the website that you would like to add the virtual directory to
3. Right click in an empty area of the right hand pane and select New > Virtual Directory… from the menu
4. Use the wizard to create a new virtual directory, entering an alias on the second screen, e.g. “admin”, and the full path to the admin folder on the third, usually C:\Program Files (x86)\Mesmotronic\Mesmotronic Multiuser Server 2\admin

Finally, you should change the admin password, “password” by default, by opening the admin console in a web browser and selecting the Configuration tab.

And that’s all there is to it.

There’s more information about how to configure Mesmotronic Multiuser Server here and if you don’t already have a server, there are a wide range of options available here.