> I have an NSIS installer script that does just this.....

Yesterday I decided it was time to quit talking about it and start writing some code :-) What a wonderful exchange this has been. I have been given so much help that I can only hope that I can reciprocate in some small way, once my expertise with Firebird has improved.

My implementation is quite similar to yours, Robert, except I am using Wise Install Builder. The concept is the same. My goal was to avoid potential conflict with previously installed Firebird servers by installing mine into a non-default folder, and then forcing it to use a non-default port. Here's what I did, and it seems to work:

1. In the install script, I create a global variable for the port number, making it different than the standard default.

2. When the user asks for a Server install, I launch the standard Firebird setup with the following command line, and wait for it to finish:
/SP- /SILENT /LOG /NOCANCEL /DIR="%MAINDIR%_FirebirdServer" /NOICONS
%MAINDIR% is my application destination folder, so %MAINDIR%_FirebirdServer will yield something like "C:\AppFolder_FirebirdServer"
The addition of "_FirebirdServer" will assure the server files are not installed in the same folder as my app, but in one right next to it. I discovered that if I were to install the server files into my app folder (or a sub-folder within it), it was not possible to delete my app folder because files in it were busy. There are other reasons to not install the server files into the app folder, but I won't go into them unless someone asks.

3. After the Firebird installation concluded, my Wise install edits firebird.conf to replace the line "#RemoteServicePort = 3050" with "RemoteServicePort = <my port number>". Obviously, it is important to remove the # (un-comment).

After implementing these three steps, I ran my app to see if it could still find the server. It ran just fine.

Now, I need to study Svein's suggestion to use aliases.conf file. Even though what I'm doing works, Svein's suggestion sounds like a very nice solution. You folks are helping me learn so much. I can't thank you enough.

BTW, I welcome critique on the install procedure I outlined, above. I tried to implement all the "cautions" that were brought up in this thread.