Setting Up the Server

The EEforce server is the shared home for every project: it stores all designs and versions, hands out licences and serves the web admin, the client download and EEforce 365. It is installed once by your IT team on a Windows machine; after that, users only install the desktop app.

Before you start

Requirement	Details
OS	Windows Server 2022/2025 (Core, Essentials, Data Center) or Windows 10/11 (LTSC, Pro, Enterprise)
CPU	4+ vCPUs recommended
RAM	4 GB free when idle (minimum)
Storage	20 GB+ on local disk; NVMe/SSD recommended
Network	Reliable LAN between server and clients
Licence file	Prepared for this machine — see Licensing
Backup	Windows shadow copy or equivalent backup solution

Have these decisions ready before you run the installer:

• The layout — where the software, the vault and the trash folder should live.
• The network — which HTTP and HTTPS ports the server should listen on, and how it should provide HTTPS: a self-signed certificate for a quick start, or your company's own certificate (a .pfx file that includes the private key) for production.
• The address — the name users will reach the server by. Using a host name (with a DNS record or hosts entry) rather than a raw IP address makes certificates and later changes much easier.

WARNING

Using a network share for the vault works but slows check-ins and check-outs down. If you use one, make sure the IIS application pool identity has full read/write permissions on the path.

Get the server package

1. Download the latest server package from the Support Portal. The file is named Server_XX.X.zip (version numbers vary).
2. Extract the ZIP to a folder of its own.

The folder contains Install.exe and a packages folder with everything the installer needs.

Run the installer

Run Install.exe and allow it when Windows asks for administrator rights. The welcome page appears:

Click Start Installation — this only starts the wizard; nothing is installed yet.

1. Accept the licence agreement

Read the End User License Agreement and click I Agree to continue.

2. Choose the folders

Field	Purpose	Notes
Software Installation Folder	Where the server software is installed	Local disk; around 150 MB
Vault Folder	Stores all designs and versions	20 GB+ to start; back it up regularly
Trash Folder	Holds deleted designs before they are removed for good	Clean it up from time to time
License File	The licence file for this server	From your reseller — see Licensing

Click Next when all fields are filled in.

3. Set up the network

Set the HTTP port — and the HTTPS port, when you use a certificate — then choose how the server provides HTTPS:

Mode	What it means
Insecure (Not for Production)	No encryption — credentials and data travel in plain text. Only for trying things out.
Self-Signed Certificate	Traffic is encrypted, but users see a "not trusted" warning until the certificate is trusted on their machines.
Load SSL Certificate	Your own certificate. Clients trust it automatically — recommended for production. The .pfx must bundle its private key.

The certificate (or a generated self-signed one) is kept in the installation folder's ssl folder and is kept as it is when you upgrade later.

4. Confirm

The confirmation page summarises your choices — including the resolved HTTPS mode and ports — and warns if a choice needs attention. Click Start Installation to begin for real.

5. Let it install

The installer creates the folders, gives the server's application pool access to them, installs the IIS role if it isn't there yet, deploys EEforce and configures HTTPS. This can take a few minutes on a first install. A progress page shows where it is.

6. Finish

The last page shows the server address your users will need — click Copy to clipboard to copy it. Open Log File shows what happened if something looks wrong; then click Finish Installation.

Hand the server address out to your users (they enter it during client installation) — for example http://eeforce.kestrel.local.

Unattended installation

Both installers can run without any windows, which is handy for deployment scripts. Run the installer with /silent and the settings as parameters: an upgrade uses the settings from the previous installation unless you override them.

Install.exe /silent [/installdir <path>] [/vaultdir <path>] [/trashdir <path>] [/license <path>] [/verbose]

• The licence file must exist (from the previous installation, /license, or license.xml next to the installer).
• Administrator rights are required.
• The client installer accepts /silent /installdir <path> /serverurl <url> in the same way.
• /help prints the full reference, and every silent run writes an install_*_log.txt next to the executable.

Starting and stopping the server

The EEforce server runs as an IIS (Internet Information Services) application pool.

Using IIS Manager: press Win + R, type inetmgr and press Enter; open Application Pools, find EEForceApplicationPool and start or stop it.

Using PowerShell:

# Start the server
Start-WebAppPool -Name "EEForceApplicationPool"

# Stop the server
Stop-WebAppPool -Name "EEForceApplicationPool"

You can also restart the server from the web admin — see Restarting the server.

WARNING

While the server is stopped, nobody can sign in or check work in. Make sure everyone has finished before you stop it.

After installation

• Open the server address in a browser. The start page links to the Admin Panel, the client download and EEforce 365.
• Administration starts in the web admin: Web Admin Interface. Create your users and groups there, set up LDAP, SSO or SCIM provisioning if you use them, and point the vault at your storage of choice.
• Server settings live in config\config.json under the installation folder. Use the web admin's Settings pages to change them — the file is maintained by the server.

Changing the certificate or ports later

Run the installer again and pick the new options on the Network page; your folders and data are left as they are. The server address on the last page reflects the new setup.

Troubleshooting

Symptom	Possible cause	Resolution
Clients cannot connect	Firewall blocking a port	Open the HTTP/HTTPS ports you chose on the Network page in Windows Firewall
"Access denied" on vault operations	Folder permissions	Give IIS_APPPOOL\EEForceApplicationPool full control on the vault and trash folders — see Permissions for moved folders
Server won't start after moving folders	Wrong path in the storage settings	Check the folder exists and is reachable, then correct the setting in the web admin
Users see a "not trusted" certificate warning	Self-signed certificate	Trust the certificate on the user machines, or re-run the installer with your company certificate
Slow check-in and check-out	Vault on slow or network storage	Move the vault to local NVMe/SSD or improve the network path