The Network Configuration Tool

Most of the time, the reason your registers can't reach your store's data has nothing to do with TORO. It's a Windows setting on the computer that holds the database — usually one that nobody ever chose, it just came that way.

The Network Configuration Tool finds those settings, tells you in plain English which one is wrong, and offers to fix it. It's the support call we used to have to walk people through on the phone, turned into a button.

You'll find it on the dashboard, under TORO Configuration, right below Database Connection. It only appears on your main computer — the one that holds your data — because that's the computer the fixes belong on.

Why this happens to brand-new stores

Here's the part that catches everyone out.

When MySQL — the database TORO stores your sales in — gets installed, it doesn't tell Windows Firewall to let anything in. And Windows blocks incoming connections by default. So a brand-new main computer will answer a ping, look completely healthy to anyone testing it, and still refuse every single register in the shop.

That's why "the network is fine, I can ping it" and "the registers can't connect" are both true at the same time. A ping only proves the computer is switched on. Reaching the database needs two more things after that: a connection to the right port, and permission to sign in.

The tool checks each of those separately, so instead of "it doesn't work" you get "the firewall is blocking it" or "the database isn't running."

Running the check

Open the tool and it starts checking straight away — you don't have to press anything. The check only looks. It doesn't change a thing.

You'll get a short list with a coloured dot next to each line:

• Green — this one's fine.
• Amber — not quite right, worth knowing about, but it isn't what's stopping you today.
• Red — this is a problem, and it will stop your registers working.
• Grey — just information, nothing to judge.

Underneath each line is what TORO actually found, and if something's wrong, what fixes it.

If everything is green, your registers can reach your data and the problem is somewhere else — give us a ring.

What it checks on your main computer

Is Windows treating this as a Private network? Windows has two modes: Public, which means "I'm in a coffee shop, block everything," and Private, which means "this is my own place, my computers can talk to each other." A shop is a Private network. It usually gets left on Public because nobody answered the prompt the day Windows was set up.

Is the database actually running? It's a Windows service. If it's stopped, nothing in the shop can sell. TORO also checks it's set to start on its own, so it comes back by itself after a power cut instead of someone having to know how to start it.

Is the database willing to talk to other computers? It can be running perfectly and still be listening only to itself, which works fine on the main computer and is invisible to every register.

Is Windows Firewall letting the registers in? This is the one that catches new stores. The tool also shows you the firewall rules that are on the computer right now — what they're called, whether they're turned on, and how wide they are — so you or your network person can see exactly what's there rather than guessing.

What it checks on a register

A register is the one doing the reaching, so it gets different questions: does the main computer answer at all, is the database port open, and can TORO actually sign in and find your store's data.

That last one matters more than it sounds. If a register is pointed at the wrong address and finds a different shop's database, TORO refuses it rather than connecting — because connecting would quietly put your sales in somebody else's books.

Most of what a register finds has to be fixed on the main computer, and the tool says so plainly instead of offering you a button that couldn't work from there.

The Fix These For Me button

If TORO found something it can fix, the button lights up.

Before anything happens, you'll be shown exactly what's about to change on that computer — the specific settings, in plain English, with the exact commands — and asked to type I ACCEPT. TORO records who approved it and when.

We ask for that because these are changes to your computer, and quite often your network is somebody else's responsibility. If they ever ask what was changed and by whom, the answer is written down.

Then Windows itself will ask for administrator permission. Click Yes. You'll only be asked once, no matter how many things are being fixed.

Afterwards TORO re-runs the whole check rather than assuming it worked. If a change didn't take, you'll see it still sitting there red. It won't tell you it fixed something it didn't.

Exactly what it changes

Three things, all on that one computer, all reversible. Only the ones that actually failed get touched.

1. Sets your shop's network to Private

Set-NetConnectionProfile -InterfaceIndex <your shop's network adapter> -NetworkCategory Private

Only the adapter carrying your shop's traffic. If you have a VPN, Tailscale, Hyper-V or VirtualBox on that machine, those are left exactly as they are.

2. Adds one Windows Firewall rule

New-NetFirewallRule -DisplayName 'TORO Database (MySQL 3306)' -Direction Inbound -Protocol TCP -LocalPort 3306 -Action Allow -Profile Private -RemoteAddress LocalSubnet

3. Starts the database and sets it to start automatically

Start-Service -Name <the database service>
Set-Service -Name <the database service> -StartupType Automatic

It does not touch your router, your internet connection, your Wi-Fi password, or any other computer. It doesn't open anything to the internet, and it doesn't install anything.

For whoever looks after your network

If you've handed this page to an IT person, this section is for them.

The firewall rule is scoped. Private profile only, source restricted to LocalSubnet. It does not expose port 3306 beyond the store's own subnet, and it's inert on a network Windows classifies as Public. If the registers sit on a different subnet from the main station, this rule won't be enough — widen it by hand.

The rule is named, so it's easy to find, edit or remove. TORO creates it only if a rule with that display name doesn't already exist, and the check accepts any enabled inbound allow rule on TCP/3306 — so if you'd rather write your own, write it and TORO will stop asking.

Watch for an existing Block rule. Windows applies a Block ahead of any Allow. The tool lists every inbound rule it finds on that port, including Block rules and disabled ones, precisely so this doesn't cost anyone an afternoon.

Adapter selection is by route, not by name or by guessing — TORO asks Windows which interface it would use to reach the main station, and falls back to the default route. Virtual adapters are never touched.

Everything runs in one elevated PowerShell process, so there's a single UAC prompt rather than one per change, and every step is safe to run twice.

Two things it deliberately won't do, because both are disruptive enough that a person should pick the moment:

• Changing MySQL's bind-address in my.ini. That needs a database restart, which would interrupt a sale.
• Adding a MySQL user grant. That's a permissions change and needs the root account.

If either of those is the problem, the tool says so and tells you what it is. Call us and we'll do it with you, out of hours.

Sending it to someone

Copy for Support puts the whole check — every line, what was found, what we'd do about it — on the clipboard as plain text. Paste it into an email or a WhatsApp to us and we can usually tell you what's wrong without a call.

What Does This Tool Do? shows this same page inside TORO, and its Copy button puts it on the clipboard so you can forward it to whoever looks after your network before you approve anything.

No passwords are ever shown, copied, or sent anywhere by this tool.